Tulipshare’s mission is to “unite investors around the world” to bring about change that traditional brokers, asset managers and institutional investors have not.
A huge number of adults hold some sort of company share whether it be directly, in a pension or ISA or mutual fund. Very few know or exercise the right to use their shareholder voting rights.
Tulipshare, an activist retail investor fintech, has launched a new platform to boost turnout at shareholder meetings.
Tulipshare’s ‘Pledge Your Share’ (PYS) platform gives early access to shareholder proposals. These can then be voted on at companies’ annual general meetings. Users ‘pledge’ their shares to a specific campaign or shareholder proposal.
“Most people, due to no fault of their own, do not know that every share has shareholder rights attached to it. When those shareholder rights are utilised in the correct way, they can be used to drive positive change in a company,” said Antoine Argouges, CEO and founder of Tulipshare.
“By engaging with publicly-held companies, Tulipshare will look to help investors push for stronger environmental and social commitments and ensure the companies we invest our money in are being responsibly managed by accountable leadership,” he added.
Data cited by the fintech company suggest interest in shareholder activism is growing. Proposals put forward are increasing by 8 per cent year on year with 868 proposals submitted in the 2022 proxy season but finding enough shareholder support to pass them is low.
In the UK, Tulipshare has a separate brokerage business but this new platform allows anyone around the world with exposure to stocks to be a user even if they have a separate broker.
Argouges says the company was founded with a 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, no matter the size of their investments, go beyond traditional protests or petitions and use their money to create lasting, positive change - the change traditional brokers, asset managers and institutional investors are failing to prioritise,” he said.