Broadridge Upgrades UK Nominations and Voting Service
Following the launch of its UK Nominations & Voting Service in 2007, Broadridge Financial Solutions has added new features to the service to further enhance its offering to retail brokers.
The UK Nominations and Voting Service was created by Broadridge in response to changes put in place by the Companies Act 2006, which was passed in order to enhance the rights of beneficial shareholders held in omnibus accounts under their broker’s nominee name. The Broadridge service enables brokers to offer their underlying clients access to shareholder materials directly from the companies they invest in, rather than indirectly through the nominee itself.
Broadridge has incorporated enhanced functionality into the service which allows retail brokers to not only offer online voting and mailing of company materials to all their beneficial shareholder clients, but to also provide a white-labelled service where the underlying investors can vote and access links to online company information directly through the broker’s website.
This enhancement effectively integrates the UK Nominations and Voting Service into a broker’s website. By directing the underlying shareholder client to the website in advance of upcoming company events, they are able to place their vote and access all relevant materials. The added features provide a more interactive experience for the beneficial shareholders when voting and receiving company materials. The added functionality means brokers can offer their clients the ability to electronically exercise their proxy voting rights on all companies in their UK portfolio through the broker’s own website.
“We are delighted to now offer our retail broker clients a new white-labelled voting service for their customers. Broadridge’s continued investment in our products and customer service makes us an attractive partner for the UK’s broker community,” said Bruce Babcock, president, investor communication solutions, international, Broadridge.