DealLawyers.com Blog

One of the reasons why retail voter participation has plummeted at companies using e-proxies is the inadequacy of the notice being used to let investors know shareholder materials are available online and that the shareholder can vote. The notices – including the ones sent by email – are too legalistic and not “usable.” They are often too long, a huge turn-off to most and important information is buried “beneath the fold” (as most people read emails on smartphones or in preview pane mode). It’s a topic that bears serious consideration and one of my pet peeves.

Am I off-base? I’ll let you be the judge – below is an email notice for a consent solicitation that I received a few months ago (I’ve obscured a few items like contact info):

PROXYVOTE.COM

You elected to receive shareholder communications and submit voting instructions via the Internet. This e-mail notification contains information specific to your holding(s) in the security identified below. Please read the instructions carefully before proceeding.

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials

Written Consent Proxy Materials

RECORD DATE: July xx, 2009
CUSIP NUMBER: xxxxxx

ACCOUNT NUMBER: #########

CONTROL NUMBER:############

You can enter your voting instructions and view the shareholder material at the following Internet site. If your browser supports secure transactions you will be automatically directed to a secure site.

http://www.proxyvote.com/xxx

Note: If your e-mail software supports it, you can simply click on the above link.

Internet voting is accepted up to 11:59 pm (ET) on September xx, 2009.

Please refer to the proxy materials, available via the link(s) below, to confirm if a cut off date applies to this solicitation. In the event of a discrepancy between information contained in this e-mail and the proxy material, the proxy material will prevail.

To view the documents below, you may need Adobe Acrobat Reader. To download the Adobe Reader, click the url address below:
http://www.adobe.com/xxxx

The relevant supporting documentations can also be found at the following Internet site(s):

Proxy Statement
http://www.xxxxx

To cancel or change your enrollment profile, please go to:

https://investing.schwab.com/xxxx

There are no charges for this service. There may be costs associated with electronic access, such as usage charges from Internet access providers and telephone companies, which must be borne by the stockholder.

Please do not send any e-mail to xxx@ProxyVote.com. Please REPLY to this e-mail with any comments or questions about proxyvote.com. (Include the original text and subject line of this message for identification purposes.) AOL Users, please highlight the entire message before clicking reply.

If you have any questions regarding your subscription to this service or to request paper copies of this material, please contact Schwab at 1-800-435-4000.

(c) 200x Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved Member SIPC