Launching Di Costa Partners (DCP) together with Morrow Sodali in 2019, before the pandemic hit, has proven to be both challenging and rewarding. Clients already knew Vin Di Costa and the strength of the Morrow Sodali parent company, behind us, set us up well to do business with some of the largest US financial institutions.
The challenge with registered fund proxies – mutual funds, ETFs and closed-end funds – is securing a quorum for shareholder meetings, because there are so many more retail beneficial shareholders in registered funds than in corporations. Our challenge is to identify and motivate those shareholders to participate, so that our clients can achieve their objectives whether that’s a change of control or a change in the fund products.
First and foremost, we must protect the personal information of fund shareholders that we solicit. Clients demand that we are constantly testing our platform and guarding against penetrations and data disclosures. The next phase is to adopt new technology solutions to identify and solicit retail holders to secure votes, as phone solicitation becomes harder.
We must remain one-step ahead of clients preparing for their next need, before they begin to demand it. We’re also continuing to look for the adjacent businesses, such as Di Costa Partners’ fund governance business, that will spur the next stage of Morrow Sodali growth.
The exhilaration that comes from starting up a new business with the support and guidance of Morrow Sodali.