Private investors become increasingly involved in voting on companies annual meetings when the process is made a little easier.
This is one of the main findings of the UK's second largest investment platform, Interactive Investors, which took the step of automatically opting customers into all votes for companies in which they own shares, reversing the usual industry practice of opting them out.
Last year, the first year after this change, the number of votes processed was up 110% from the year before up to 161,904.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LSE:RDSB), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) and BP PLC (LSE:BP.) were the companies where most retail investors cast votes at general meetings in 2021, with Vodafone, AstraZeneca and Aviva also making the top 10 list.
The broker said that shareholder activism is a powerful tool in creating long term change, and with the growing focus on environmental, social, and governance issues, private investors are getting involved to hold large companies accountable.
“It’s become easier to express personal opinions publicly and most of us now do it every day, so why shouldn’t shareholders have their thoughts heard by more of the big corporations they own a stake in?” said Lee Wild, ii's head of equity strategy.
“With strength in numbers, there’s a real opportunity to hold businesses and the people who run them to account.”