About

The opportunity

A company's stockholders have the legal right to decide important decisions at the companies they own: they elect directors, review aspects of executive compensation, and weigh in on shareholder proposals addressing a variety environmental, social, and governance issues. History has shown that shareholders can use their voting power to create value -- both economic and social -- at the companies they own.

The challenge

In practice, it can be hard for investors to exercise their rights and have their voices heard. One important obstacle is information. Shareholders often have a hard time keeping track of when the companies in their portfolio are meeting and what the ballot items mean. Mutual fund owners, whose funds vote on their behalf at the companies in the fund portfolio, rarely know how their funds are voting and thus have no way to be sure that their interests are being represented.

Our solution

ProxyDemocracy provides tools to help investors overcome these informational hurdles and use their voting power to produce positive changes in the companies they own. We help shareholders vote their shares by publicizing the intended votes of institutional investors with a track record of shareholder engagement. We help mutual fund investors understand the voting records of leading funds, making it possible for them to purchase funds that represent their interests and pressure those that don't.

ProxyDemocracy is a nonprofit, nonpartisan project supported by foundations that are themselves interested in being responsible investors.

Learn more:

• About us
• About proxy voting
• About our vote sources for upcoming meetings

See also:

• Help » How to use this site
• Help » Voting profiles
• Help » FocusLists
• Data » Data sources