Apr 25, 2008
I also checked out these calls, as my mother (age 89) is receiving them and now I am too. They are indeed legitimate calls, asking you to exercise your legal rights as a shareholder in Fidelity.
KEEP IN MIND: If you have investments in a Fidelity fund, you ARE a Fidelity shareholder.
You may resent the fact that Fidelity has hired a separate firm to phone you and ask you to vote your shares, but do you think that Fidelity's excellent full-time staff should stop answering your investment-related phone calls in order to make these vote-reminder calls themselves? Of course not.
By LAW, Fidelity MUST hold an annual meeting to elect officers and to vote on bylaws and other matters.
Fidelity is required by LAW to send ballots to all shareholders. The board of directors of Fidelity proposes board candidates and recommends votes on specific issues.
IF few people vote--and participation in such voting has dropped precipitously in recent years, then a shareholder proposal--which might be weird, damaging, or more--could be approved by a majority of a tiny percentage of shareholders. If, say, only 5% of shareholders vote, what conclusion should the board draw?
I do think that the present situation--of low shareholder participation and angry "don't call ME!" attitudes--will intensify as investment holders age. When I'm in my 80s, living on the excellent returns I'm getting from Fidelity funds, will I be able and willing to "vote my shares"?
But for now I am able and more than willing to have a say in the management of my funds.