Fintech start-up Tulipshare launches a global platform to increase attendance at general meetings for retailers
Fintech startup Tulipshare is launching a new platform to encourage more retail investors globally to take ownership of their investments and learn how to effectively use their shareholder rights to drive positive ethical change in some of the biggest companies in the world.
Launching at the end of Q1 2023, Tulipshare’s ‘Pledge Your Share’ (PYS) platform will give retail investors early access to shareholder proposals, allowing them to show their support ahead of a company’s annual general meeting (AGM). As Tulipshare’s brokerage platform is only available in the UK, PYS aims to unify retail investors worldwide, allowing anyone with exposure to US listed companies to exercise their shareholder rights in a simple and transparent manner, even if Tulipshare is not their primary. broker.
The launch comes at a time when interest in shareholder activism is growing with the number of proposals increasing by 8% year-on-year with 868 proposals submitted in the 2022 proxy season. However, the percentage of proposals that find enough shareholder support to be adopted is still considerably low.
Users who register in PYS and pledge their shares for a particular campaign or shareholder proposal will receive alerts about Tulipshare’s engagements with target companies, while also learning how to vote their shares ahead of the company’s general meeting. This will consist of regular newsletters containing the information investors need to know about all their holdings’ ESG commitments, company news and campaign updates. Users will also have access to an overview of what’s on a company’s proxy statement, as well as a timeline of key dates ahead of the AGM to ensure investors know how and when to vote their shares.
Antoine Argouges, CEO and founder of Tulipshare, comments: “As the world’s first platform to combine activism with investment, Tulipshare was founded with the mission to unite investors globally around important environmental and social issues and causes, generating impact where others will not. We want to help like-minded activists and investors, regardless of the size of their investment, go beyond traditional protests or petitions and use their money to create lasting, positive change – the change traditional brokers, asset managers and institutional investors fail to prioritize. .”
A recent survey by Tulipshare found that 71% of US retail investors believe that companies should be held accountable for the damage they cause to the environment and society, but only 40% have actually voted on a company’s AGM before. Tulipshare’s research also found that only 47% of investors surveyed said they had received a message from their broker or investment platform informing them they could vote at a company’s upcoming AGM.
“Most people, through no fault of their own, do not know that every share has shareholder rights attached to it. When properly harnessed, these shareholder rights can be used to drive positive change in a company. By engaging with publicly owned companies, Tulipshare will help investors push for stronger environmental and social commitments and ensure that the companies we invest our money in are responsibly managed by responsible management. Our team’s expertise in shareholder activism has uniquely positioned us as a bridge between the individuals who care about ESG issues and the companies that need to act.”
Institutional investors have enormous power when it comes to influencing which proposals will be passed at a company’s general meeting, but many vote against shareholder proposals to support management decisions. This meant that in 2022 the institutions supported only 1 in 75 submitted proposals.
“While ESG investing as an overarching concept has come under attack recently, with increased rhetoric, legislation and lawsuits, it is naïve for any investor, asset manager or financial institution to assume zero responsibility for the transition to a low-carbon economy, or find duty to to vote against proposals that would ensure that basic human rights are met in some of the largest supply chains in the world,” concludes Argouges.
Tulipshare’s biggest success to date was a motion by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) requiring the company to stop selling its talc-based powder globally due to its links to several cancers. After J&J’s 2021 general meeting, the multinational company confirmed that it will take the talcum-based powder off the shelves worldwide. More recently, Tulipshare led a successful campaign among Apple shareholders, which saw the world’s largest company commit to improving the reporting of App Store takedowns.
After launch, PYS will allow Tulipshare to allocate more resources to shareholder campaigns in other markets around the world, while providing an opportunity for users to submit shareholder proposals and market their campaigns to more retail investors. Tulipshare currently collaborates and sponsors shareholder proposals in partnership with groups such as As You Sow, Oxfam, NRDC, City to Sea, Advance ESG, Trillium Asset Management and The Sierra Club.
