Computershare reported on (free download) annual shareholder meeting practices and trends, including infrequently reported meeting formats and proceedings, based on the 1,183 US annual meetings it managed during the 2023 proxy season (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023).
Meeting formats—In-person meetings predominated among companies overall at 70% of all meetings.
- However, looking solely at the largest companies within that group, S&P 100 companies favored virtual-only meetings by a wide margin, at 82% of all meetings vs. 16% in-person-only meetings.
- Virtual-only meetings were used almost exclusively by Funds, Telecom, and Travel sector companies, and by a majority of companies in several other industry sectors (see p.6).
- Hybrid meetings declined sharply from last year, representing just 2% of all meetings among this 1,183-company group.
Meeting attendance—Average online attendance among the S&P 100 declined from 513 in the 2022 season to 151 this season.
- Companies that allowed automated beneficial holder access had a 13% increase in attendance, while those that allowed guest access had a 24% increase.
Voting methods—Paper voting comprised nearly two-thirds of votes cast compared to 30% online and 7% telephonic.
- Proxy card returns are relatively negligible, equating to less than 5% of all proxy cards sent in 2023 from a still-low ~8% in 2019.
Meeting duration—Average meeting duration for S&P 100 companies increased from 40 minutes in the 2022 season to 47 minutes in 2023, which Computershare attributes to a potentially longer meeting agenda, more shareholder proposals, or both.
Meeting cadence—Nearly half of the meetings occurred in May, followed by June at 31%, and then April at 20%.
- Thursday was the most popular day of the week for virtual / hybrid meetings and meetings overall (33% and 31%, respectively), followed by Wednesdays (31% and 28%, respectively) and Tuesdays (21% and 24% respectively).
- The most common meeting start times were 9:00 or 10:00 am (27% and 28%, respectively).
Shareholder question formats—Utilization of video and voice elements for shareholder questions was negligible.
The report also covers shareholder proposal activity and trends and includes global insights.