A study conducted by Boursorama, Euronext and Capitalcom shows that new shareholders are demanding more interaction and information at general meetings. Remote AGMs have promoted shareholder democracy.
The health crisis and closed-door shareholder meetings have raised the attention and engagement of shareholders. According to a study conducted in March by Boursorama, Euronext and the communications agency Capitalcom among a sample of 1,076 people, individual investors are increasingly interested in interacting with the companies in which they invest, particularly at the time of general meetings.
Shareholder democracy
"In the current context of the health crisis, the strong development of remote formats for general meetings since 2020 has led to a massive increase in the number of participants in general meetings. This is particularly the case for shareholders living in the regions who have thus had the opportunity to participate in these events thanks to these formats. According to 65% of respondents, remote general meetings have greatly contributed to the proper functioning of shareholder democracythe statement said.
Nearly 50 % of the shareholders surveyed responded that they intended to attend a general meeting in 2021, while only a quarter of them had previously attended.
Passive spectators
And this involvement can be attributed in particular to the 400,000 individual investors who have recently joined the stock market to take advantage of market opportunities in 2020. However, they seem to be here to stay, as 87% of the survey respondents want to commit to companies over the medium to long term.
However, 77% of the individual investors surveyed also said in this study that they felt they were "passive spectators" at general meetings, and 60% of them felt that their vote at general meetings "did not count".
Live remote voting
In a interview published this Monday on FinascopeMuriel Goldberg Darmon, a partner at Cohen & Gresser, is in favour of strengthening shareholder democracy. The lawyer would particularly like to see remote and live voting become widespread at general meetings, regardless of the health situation, as part of a vast movement to reclaim shareholders' rights. "In the context of closed meetings, postal votes may in practice render the discussions meaningless, since shareholders must vote before the meeting"she stressed. Amundi has already implemented such a live and remote voting process this year.
According to the Boursorama-Euronext-Capitalcom study, individual shareholders want companies to make their communications more accessible during their general meetings, particularly through new modes of interaction, while 60 percent of them prefer remote formats.
Exchange sessions with leaders
The majority of individual shareholders expect companies to develop interactive digital exchange sessions with executives.
The study also highlights the fact that 93 % of those surveyed are aware of the notion of ESG criteria (Environment, Social, Governance), to which institutional investors are no longer the only ones paying attention. Among them, 70 % take these issues into consideration in their investment decisions.