Cozen O’Connor’s “Inside Scoop: Shareholder Engagement - It’s About Communication” provides companies with many practical insights and helpful guidance about engaging with Vanguard specifically, as well as institutional investors more generally, based on an interview with The Vanguard Group’s Head of Investment Stewardship for the Americas region, Adrienne Monley.
Among the key takeaways for companies is to think more broadly about engagement to include not only live “one-on-one” conventional issuer/investor communications, but also other forms and channels of messaging that may include sustainability reports, proxy statements, chairmen letters, corporate websites, taped board and executive interviews or discussions that are posted on the corporate website, and other types and channels of communications that all investors can access. Aside from efficiently facilitating the company’s messaging, utilizing various public channels and formats in lieu of relying largely on conventional engagements recognizes the fact that large institutional investors have capacity limitations that make it impossible for them to engage with each of their portfolio companies.
A key caveat to making disclosures available via numerous and varied communication channels is to ensure consistent, quality disclosures, wherever they appear.
For those of you with Vanguard in your stock, this interview is a highly recommended read.
Access additional resources on our Institutional Investors page »Vanguard and our Shareholder Engagement page.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!