Shareholder meetings and elections
As a shareholder of a company, you have the right to attend and vote in shareholder meetings for that company. Voting by proxy allows you to cast your vote prior to the shareholder meeting without attending the meeting in person. Before each shareholder meeting you’re eligible to attend, you will receive an email from noreply@robinhood.com with a link to your ballot to proxy vote as well as meeting details.
Eligibility is based on the settled shares you own as of the record date set by the issuing company. The record date is typically 30-60 days before the shareholder meeting. If you have a margin balance, there may be a reduction of voting rights. You can learn more in Shares on loan: Reduced voting rights.
Shareholder meetings can be in person or virtual at the discretion of the issuing company. If you’d like to attend a meeting for a security you own, you can request to attend the meeting through the voting link in your email, and selecting Attend Meeting on your ballot. We’ll provide instructions on how you can attend the meeting and any additional credentials you may need. We recommend that you reach out at least 10 business days prior to the meeting date to allow time for processing. If the meeting is less than 10 days from when you ask for instructions and credentials, we’ll make a best effort to get them to you prior to the meeting.
As a shareholder as of the record date, you have a few options when it comes to voting and attending a shareholder meeting:
When you use margin to purchase securities, Robinhood is lending you money. As part of the margin agreement, you are using your purchased shares as collateral for these types of loans and may give up some or all of your voting rights with respect to the shares being held as collateral.
You also may not receive proxy materials for a shareholder meeting for such shares.
You can read more about this in the Robinhood Customer Margin and Short Account Agreement.
Voting by proxy means you can cast your shareholder vote without actually attending the shareholder meeting in person. Your vote is cast by proxy, which counts the same as if you voted directly at the shareholder meeting.
You should expect your proxy voting instructions 15 to 60 days prior to a shareholder meeting, depending on the type of meeting.
A control number is an identifier that some companies use to authenticate shareholders. Certain virtual meeting hosts require control numbers to access or vote during the meeting. A control number is unique to you and allows you to access the meeting before the meeting starts. If you request to attend a meeting, we’ll provide you with a control number for access if the meeting host requires one.
Yes! After you’ve voted, you can request to attend the meeting by following the link to your ballot through your proxy voting email. You’ll have the option to attend the meeting and keep the vote you have already submitted or vote at the meeting instead. If you choose to vote at the meeting, your previously submitted vote will be invalidated.
Ownership of cryptocurrency doesn’t constitute ownership of shares of a company, which means there are neither shareholder meetings nor votes for crypto owners.
All Robinhood customers are beneficial shareholders because the shares they own are held by Robinhood Securities as the “street name” (as the Robinhood Securities’ name, rather than the names of the individual legal owners). This is why we provide you with the proxy materials to participate in a shareholder meeting.
Registered shareholders are owners of shares that are directly registered with the issuing company in the shareholders’ names. This type of ownership is not something Robinhood currently supports.
There are two reasons you may not receive an email to vote by proxy even if you own the shares:
You can read more about this in the Robinhood Customer Margin and Short Account Agreement.
To guarantee this, first disable Stock lending at least 2 business days before the record date of the proxy and ensure you are not using any margin before and through the record date of the stock you are currently holding. You can always enable Stock lending again after the record date.
To guarantee this, ensure you are not using any margin before and through the record date of the stock you are currently holding.
Proof of ownership that is used to attend a shareholder meeting.
Say Technologies LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc. Say Technologies provides investor communications including proxy notices to Robinhood customers and allows them to submit their votes at saytechnologies.com.
Information provided by the issuer to the shareholder to inform them of what is to be discussed and voted on at the meeting.
An optional way to cast your vote online in advance of the shareholder meeting.
The date used by the issuing company to determine which shareholders are eligible to receive notice about a shareholder meeting and vote.