INVESTOR CLOUT

The power to effect these meaningful changes in corporate behavior starts with voting your proxies, which a majority of shareowners either don’t do or leave to proxy voting services. If they do not vote, their votes are given to management. It’s as though investors are citizens and aren’t aware that they have the right to go to the ballot box to choose their elected officials.

However, through voting proxies, engaging with corporations, and initiating proxy votes about critical issues, investors can—and have—significantly influenced corporate behavior on issues ranging from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, board diversity, fair labor, and protecting the environment to corporate governance, hiring practices, animal rights, and many other issues.

The truth is, the dog slipped under the fence a long time ago. It’s time to bring it to heel.