|
The Shareholder Forum™ Purpose The Shareholder Forum provides all decision-makers – from the ultimate owners of capital to the corporate managers who use their capital, and all of the professionals in between – with reliably effective access to the information and views participants consider relevant to their respective responsibilities for the common objective of using capital to produce goods and services. Having pioneered what became the widespread practice of "corporate access" events over two decades ago, the Forum continues to refine its "Direct Access" practices to assure effective support of marketplace interests. Access Policies To provide the required investor access without regulatory constraints, the Forum developed policies and practices allowing it to function as an SEC-defined independent moderator. We also adopted well-established publishing standards to assure essential participant privacy and communication rights. These carefully defined and thoroughly tested Forum policies are the foundation of our unique marketplace resource for clearly fair access to information and exchanges of views. History We have been doing this for more than two decades. The Forum programs were initiated in 1999 by the CFA Society New York (at the time known as the New York Society of Security Analysts) with lead investor and former corporate investment banker Gary Lutin as guest chairman to address the professional interests of the Society’s members. Independently supported by Mr. Lutin since 2001, the Forum’s public programs – often in collaboration with the CFA Society as well as with other educational institutions such as the Columbia Schools of Business and Journalism, the Yale School of Management and The Conference Board – have achieved wide recognition for their effective definition of both company-specific and marketplace issues, followed by an orderly exchange of the information and views needed to resolve them. The Forum's ability to convene all key decision-making constituencies and influence leaders has been applied to subjects ranging from corporate control contests to the establishment of consensus marketplace standards for fair disclosure, and has been relied upon by virtually every major U.S. fund manager and the many other investors who have participated in programs that addressed their interests. Commitment The Forum welcomes suggestions for its continuing support of fair access to the information needed by both shareholders and corporate managers. Responding to the recent increases in investor engagement and activism, we have established a strong policy commitment to supporting corporate managers who wish to provide the leadership expected of them by assuring orderly reviews of issues. We will of course also continue to welcome the initiation of company-specific programs by shareholders concerned with the use of their capital to produce goods and services, and we naturally remain committed to addressing general marketplace interests in collaboration with educational institutions and publishers. |
|
The statements of Broadridge's CEO about the company's technology development efforts, reported below, are presented following the article from a transcript published by SeekingAlpha. An archived webcast of the August 14, 2008 quarterly conference call for analysts is available on the Broadridge web site. Information about the reported iMiners technology, which is currently offered, can be found on their web site for "eShareholderForum." The Shareholder Forum has no commitments or financial interests in these or any competing communications technologies, but expects to explore their possible applications to Forum processes. For other reports and legal views relating to SEC encouragement of electronic communication technologies for shareholder communications, see |
Investor Relations Magazine, August 21, 2008 article
Broadridge plans
shareholder e-forum
Aug 21, 2008
CEO sees project as ‘unique’ rival
to investor chat rooms
NEW YORK -- Broadridge Financial Solutions, the technology outsourcing company, plans to launch an electronic shareholder forum that distinguishes itself from other online investment forums by validating participants as genuine shareholders. The company revealed the project – which it is calling Investor Network – in an earnings call last week. ‘We are uniquely positioned to create a vibrant social network that validates real shareholders while allowing both anonymity and accountability for any statements made online,’ said Broadridge CEO Richard Daly on the call. Broadridge’s proposal carries weight because the company has a virtual monopoly over the retail shareholder communications market in the US, a result of its extensive links with brokerage firms. In the call, Daly said the SEC might decide shareholders have the right to discuss their investments online in a secure environment. ‘If that was the case, I can’t see it getting done in any way other than through the plumbing we have in place,’ he commented. Daly confirmed he has had meetings with SEC staff and chairman Christopher Cox on the topic. Daly added, however, that Investor Network is still ‘early in its development’ and experts working with Broadridge differ on the project’s potential. The SEC has been encouraging companies to set up e-shareholder forums on their own websites for some time. In February, it changed its rules on web disclosure to remove some of the liability issues that held firms back from communicating with shareholders online. ‘E-shareholder forums are soon going to become a common communications medium for shareholders and companies,’ predicts Michael O’Brien, vice president of sales at iMiners, a technology company that sets up e-forums on company websites. ‘The trend of companies using electronic shareholder forums to communicate with shareholders via web 2.0 technology will continue to accelerate, and we believe forums will become standard on company IR websites in the near future.’ By Tim Human
|
||
|
Seeking Alpha Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. F4Q08 (Qtr End 06/30/08) Earnings Call Transcript Executives Presentation *** Rich Daly *** I believe one of the new and exciting opportunities is
around what we're calling the Investor Network. It's really unusual for us
to be talking about something so early in its development, but the range of
this opportunity could be anything from negligible to a unique and
meaningful financial social network which could be really big. The Investor
Network is an online electronic form that will facilitate shareholder to
shareholder communications with a unique feature that will differentiate it
from the chat rooms in existence today. Investors who use our Investor
Network will be validated as real shareholders. This feature will not only
enhance shareholder to shareholder communications, but it will provide a new
channel of communication between shareholders and companies. *** Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of Seeking Alpha. However, we view them as an important resource for bloggers and journalists, and are excited to contribute to the democratization of financial information on the Internet. (Until now investors have had to pay thousands of dollars in subscription fees for transcripts.) So our reproduction policy is as follows: You may quote up to 400 words of any transcript on the condition that you attribute the transcript to Seeking Alpha and either link to the original transcript or to www.SeekingAlpha.com. All other use is prohibited. THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HERE IS A TEXTUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE APPLICABLE COMPANY'S CONFERENCE CALL, CONFERENCE PRESENTATION OR OTHER AUDIO PRESENTATION, AND WHILE EFFORTS ARE MADE TO PROVIDE AN ACCURATE TRANSCRIPTION, THERE MAY BE MATERIAL ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR INACCURACIES IN THE REPORTING OF THE SUBSTANCE OF THE AUDIO PRESENTATIONS. IN NO WAY DOES SEEKING ALPHA ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INVESTMENT OR OTHER DECISIONS MADE BASED UPON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS WEB SITE OR IN ANY TRANSCRIPT. U.S.ERS ARE ADVISED TO REVIEW THE APPLICABLE COMPANY'S AUDIO PRESENTATION ITSELF AND THE APPLICABLE COMPANY'S SEC FILINGS BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT OR OTHER DECISIONS. If you have any additional questions about our online transcripts, please contact us at: transcripts@seekingalpha.com. Thank you!
|
