Even adhering to the taskforce’s recommendations, beyond the future of share registers, a piece of the puzzle remains, it centres around how issuers will be able to analyse and engage with their own shareholders after the indicative date within the report. This is where lessons can be learned from best practice investor relations.
Information flow and investor communication
Issuers will need to clearly identify all parties on their register, especially since there is the potential for a blurring of the lines of beneficial holders and direct holders with the proposed changes. If, traditional registers are removed and s793 processes are significantly altered as per the final report, with an alternative yet to be determined, tools that enable IR teams to connect with all types of shareholders - depending on engagement willingness and webhosting capabilities - will become paramount.
The data that can be derived from a meeting in that scenario could be a goldmine for CoSec and IR Teams alike. This is not only in terms of engagement but is also in terms of: gauging the thoughts of shareholders on policy and announcements, helping shape the direction of the company, and limiting the activist population on the register. This technology should be developed now, to prepare for the changes that are to come.
Fundamental to this is ensuring that relevant information is up to date: utilising online health checks. Teams will need to be proactive before key announcements to ensure contacts and shareholders are still contactable. The taskforce final report recommends that email addresses should be required in addition to physical addresses. This will facilitate communication when registering shares. But systems should also be in place to regularly check the information is valid, enabling ongoing communications.
For companies, paper communication is costly, but missed opportunities outweigh this; especially when you are trying to contact individuals that have expressed an interest in the success of your company at some point in time. With more and more issuers moving to chequeless dividends (aligning with recommendation four of the final report), hybrid meetings, and online share management portals, shareholder addresses will be just one of the contact methods available: but inevitably being the least preferred. When share certificates are finally consigned to the annuls of history, the email addresses of investors will be the most pertinent piece of information that can be held.
Gaining fresh insights
Hybrid AGM provision is part way there in being able to: record voting on resolutions, provide access codes for shareholders so that only eligible votes are collated, provide a format for questions to be asked, and give the board the opportunity to discuss the business of the meeting. CRM platforms offer viable audio-visual solutions for holding investor presentations and some data collection. The more advanced platforms also allow the investor to build a portfolio of clients so that they are made aware of meetings in advance. But what are the further opportunities?
Imagine being able to link the attendee at a meeting to their entry on whatever replaces the register and s808 list, to check not only on how they have voted at your AGM but to also see how they voted historically. So, a shareholder who always votes against ESG policies can now be engaged to see whether they think the policy goes too far or not far enough. A future exists where the ability to analyse the types of meetings a shareholder attends and create mailings to target them, and others like them, to engage with key advisors ahead of policy decisions. There is so much scope for shareholder engagement and analysis.
SABA’s incursion into the UK market this past winter highlighted the need for issuers to be able to rally their shareholder base. While the efforts of those seven trusts proved sufficient, it only added to further calls for better register analytics encompassing retail holders. I am sure that each of the seven would have liked to have been able to target shareholders who regularly attend meetings to ensure that their votes could be relied upon at the touch of a button as well as engaging proxy solicitation. Or at least, to assist with the targeting of that invaluable work, especially given the relatively short turnaround of those meetings.
An ear to the ground
I have purposely ignored a specific group of shareholders to this point, the employees. But it is essential to be able to link in employee plans and engage the one group of stakeholders who will be responsible for delivering the policies that are being suggested. Being able to listen to your employees in this format alongside other investors and then to see how they vote on issues will be a fundamental shift in the governance and running of companies. This process will inevitably be finetuned ahead of the move to fully digital shares.
According to Proshare (SAYE & SIP report, 2024), the take-up for employee schemes is a little under 37 percent; so nearly two fifths of eligible employees are potentially becoming shareholders at the end of maturity processes. With a number this large, can issuers really afford to ignore a captive audience with multiple vested interests in the long-term success of their institution? With this group there are likely to be internal processes that could capture contact information. However, being able to remove the request for information from the working day will halt any impact to employee productivity.
With the advent of PISCES, and the consideration that employee schemes can be added into this, a web-based platform to engage the participants and to be able to derive data from that source, could be foundational in the development of these private companies. Furthermore, it could help accelerate the company to a position where they can IPO with confidence. They will know that the initial investors are supportive of the board, that the direction of the company is agreeable and that their feedback is not only noted but also acted upon providing confidence in the longevity of their investment.
The new normal
Stepping towards a future with key data-centric insights, will not only allow the issuers to gain valuable comprehension into the outlook of their shareholder base, but it will also stop any issues before they arise. Through engagement they may well be enticed back into the fray to invest more of their monies instead of stowing them away in a savings account.
For issuers and investors to develop adequately, in the ever-evolving landscape in which we are engaged, technology must move at pace. The current offerings on the market may suffice for now, but for the future, the need for continual development is here.
Delivery of such a solution is the new direction of travel for service providers. Engaging shareholders in the most accessible and overt fashion, to include a range of views and perspectives in the future governance of the country’s biggest institutions, is going to become the new norm.
Evolution in the industry
The industry will naturally shift over the coming years. In order to ensure the continuation and possible increase of retail investment, new solutions will take centre stage. Shareholder groups are still concerned as to what this will mean for their members, ShareSoc (July 2025). This is now the time to provide investors with better access to senior leaders than has ever been before, to promote advocacy and ultimately investment.
The fundamental advantage, post report, is our collective clarity in understanding the next steps needed. We are working towards an industry framework that will clearly accommodate, and welcome, development of fully functioning tools to facilitate better relationships between shareholders and issuers.
We have the opportunity to focus on product development, surpassing what is currently available on the market, and the opportunity for first rate solutions to be launched to market to sustain and encourage investment beyond the advent of the new digital age. All of this works towards a purposeful, integrated and engaged future in IR and shareholder management. The next few years will certainly be interesting in determining the direction of travel for our industry as a whole.
This article was first published in Informed 128, IR Society Magazine, Autumn 2025.