While many people have written off the mutual fund product given the introduction of ETFs and inexpensive online portfolio tools, there are still roughly 8,000 mutual funds operating in the US today. Every one of those funds is registered and has a board that oversees the governance of the fund. Every fund is also obligated to deliver a quorum of shareholders for any shareholder meeting along with the required percentage of votes to approve or reject the proposal on the ballot.

Any fund shareholder proxy begins with an understanding of the shareholder base. Morrow Sodali Fund Solutions conducts a thorough analytical vote projection as each fund is different. The strategy that works for one fund given its makeup may not work for the other funds in the same series. Morrow Sodali Fund Solutions has years of experience dealing with every conceivable fund composition. Even if most mutual fund beneficial shareholders are retail investors, voting does not always get passed down to the beneficial holder. Funds held in managed accounts or broker/dealer wrap programs are often voted by an agent such as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), so understanding how they perform their analysis and make recommendations is critical to many successful campaigns.

Since most mutual funds are now distributed through intermediaries such as wirehouses, RIAs or regional broker/dealers, the Morrow Sodali Fund Solutions FA Program deepens engagement with advisors and their client shareholders in order to secure both a quorum and the required vote.

* The “Financial Advisor (FA) Program” has been developed by Morrow Sodali Fund Solutions to target and engage the financial advisors whose clients are the shareholders in the funds impacted by a proxy vote.