Awareness of Shareholder Engagement among Sub-Brokers, Investment Advisors and Shareholders

Companies Act 2013 has given legal protection to shareholders’ rights. It has granted new rights to minority shareholders, such as; i) Approval of shareholders for amending the company's memorandum of association/articles of association, ii) Right to appoint and remove Directors, iii) Approval of shareholders for obtaining loans, iv) Approval of shareholders for Related Party Transactions, v) Right to appoint Auditor, vi) Right to Grievance Redressal Mechanisms, vii) Filing Class and Derivative actions suits, etc. Against the backdrop of this, the present study was undertaken by the researcher. The study aims to investigate the awareness of Shareholder Engagement among Sub-Brokers, Investment Advisors and Shareholders. The study was conducted in major cities of North Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnataka covering Kalburagi, Bellary, Belagavi, Vijayapura and Hubli-Dharwad cities. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire. The result of the study reveals that; i) The majority of Sub-Brokers and Investment Advisors were unaware of the concept of Shareholder Engagement, ii) The majority of Sub-Brokers and Investment Advisors were unaware of a) Investor Relationship Policy implemented by companies, b) Investors Road Show conducted by companies, c) Board- Shareholder Dialogue conducted by companies, iii) None of the Sub-Brokers and Investment Advisors are aware of working of Proxy Advisory Firms, filing Class and Derivative actions suits by shareholders, iv) None of the shareholders are aware of the out concept of Shareholder Engagement, Board-Shareholder Dialogue, the existence of Proxy Advisory Firms and Shareholder Association. The study is expected to help the Government of India and SEBI to chalk out policies for stronger Shareholder Engagement. The outcome of the study also expected the Proxy Advisory Firms to develop marketing strategies to reach out to investors.