A shareholder, or someone who owns stock in a company, has some power to make decisions about what that company does. The primary way in which a shareholder has power is by voting in the annual meeting. Usually you get one vote per share, unless you have special shares that come with extra votes or other perks – the more shares you own, the more power you wield.

If you can’t physically make it to the meeting you can send in a proxy vote. Some time before the meeting, the company should send each shareholder a packet with information on how to do this.

All the information you need to make an informed vote is made available in the annual report sent to shareholders. You can empower yourself and your dollars by staying informed and using your vote as a shareholder.

Tags: annual meeting, shareholder, stock, voting shares