Leading by Example: Can One Universal Shareholder’s Voting Pre-Disclosure Influence Voting Outcomes?

We analyze the impact of a large shareholder disclosing its voting decisions prior to shareholder meetings on final vote outcomes for management and shareholder proposals. We find that pre-disclosures of against votes lead to an average increase of 2.7 percentage points in against votes by other shareholders. Voting pre-disclosures are more effective for proposals with a higher information demand, and if the large shareholder pre-discloses a decision that is not directly observable from its proxy-voting guidelines. The results highlight the potential for large institutional investors to use voting pre-disclosure as a tool for influencing other shareholders and, ultimately, companies.