Canadian Publicly Traded Firms
9.1 List the top ten stockholders, along with the percentage of stock owned.
9.2 List stock holdings of top management and Board members.
9.3 Are there other stockholders who provide special points of leverage (i.e. unions, other employers)?
In a publicly traded company, large stockholders may be as or more powerful than management. While many stockholders are mutual funds and financial institutions it is not always the case. For example in the Teamster campaign against Republic Services, a major trash firm, they discovered that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was a major stockholder.* Special attention should be given to retirement funds that hold stock as they may be important sources against the firm. With a growing concern about Corporate Social Responsibility, there has been growing shareholder activism around a number of campaigns.
The System for Electronic Disclosure by Insiders (SEDI) is Canada’s on-line, browser-based service for the filing and viewing of insider reports as required by various provincial securities rules and regulations.
The Inter-corporate ownership product is a comprehensive source of information available on corporate ownership. It is essentially directory of “who owns what” in Canada. It provides up-to-date information reflecting recent corporate takeovers and other substantial changes.
Yahoo Finance provides basic information on major stockholders and holdings of management and board members, as well as recent insider trades. MSN Money provides similar information.
The Management Information Circular available at SEDAR lists the management’s and board’s stock holdings.
*The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has since sold its stock in Republic Services but the Foundation is also a major shareholder in Waste Management, Inc. another large trash firm.
Paid Resources (Subscription Required)
Mergent Market Atlas provides detailed detailed information on stockholders.