4 Typical FINI Account Types

The following is from an informational email we recently sent to Taiwanese companies regarding some examples of foreign institutional investor (FINI) account types that appear consistently on shareholder registers.

Please do not hesitate to contact me ([email protected]) if you have any questions or would like to know more.

希望您收到這封電子郵件時一切都好。Please scroll down for the English version of this email. 當您為股東會準備徵集外資委託書時，首先應該下載過戶停止日當天的外資名冊，然後分析外資名冊以確定最大的外資是誰。之後，您需要確定該外資由哪個個人或部門負責做出投票決策。 最後，您需要獲取他們的聯繫信息並與他們聯絡，以確保他們有議事手冊和任何其他會議資料在手，並詢問他們是否對議案有任何疑問。

下面是四種經典的外資賬戶：

第一個賬戶（****9210）是一個保管賬戶（經紀人）。摩根士丹利不會對此賬戶進行投票， 相反，委託書將被傳送至所有的實際持有人，由他們進行投票。在這種情況下，由於賬戶尚未註冊分割投票，所以賬戶在股東會上顯示為投票的唯一方式即是，每個單獨的實際持有人以完全相同的方式投票（或者帳戶背後只有一個實際持有人），否則國內保銀將記錄該帳戶為棄權。您的外資名冊中可能會有幾個較大帳戶是保管帳戶，而他們不會顯示為投票。

第二個賬戶（****8455）是一個主權財富基金（SWF），他們不會投票。Kuwait Investment Authority 和Abu Dhabi Investment Authority是主權財富基金中亦不會投票的好例子。不幸的是，當這些賬戶出現在外資名冊中時往往是大賬戶。Norges Bank Investment Management是一家會投票的SWF基金。 新加坡政府投資公司（GIC）是另一家通常不會投票的大型主權財富基金，但如果您聯絡基金經理並特別要求他們投票，他們可能會投票。

第三個賬戶（****2949）是一個指數基金。BlackRock的iShares基金和Dimensional Fund Advisors的DFA基金也是類似的例子。 所有Vanguard基金將由其代理投票團隊進行投票，這也是為什麼在聯絡外資之前分析外資名冊變得尤為重要。我看到很多公司錯誤地將外資名冊分由幾個不同的員工負責（沒有事先分析合併賬戶），這導致Vanguard收到來自公司不同員工的關於同一次會議的電話邀請。

最後，第四個賬戶（****7293）提醒大家，基金經理並不總是做出投票決策之人。在這種情況下，Dimensional負責管理基金（買賣股票），但Teacher Retirement System of Texas (”TRS Texas”) 保留投票權。 如果此帳戶出現在您的外資名冊中，您應該聯繫TRS Texas，而不是DFA。

當然，這些並不是我們所見過的所有可能的外資賬戶類型，而是一些比較普遍類型的好例子。下載外資名冊時，我強烈建議您包含英文名一列。許多外資在其賬戶註冊表上填寫英文名，並將中文名留空，因此賬戶中文名通常是英文名的翻譯（或音譯）。

我希望這為您提供一些有關外資名冊潛在復雜性的相關資訊。自2007年以來，Alliance Advisors一直在協助台灣公司與其外資進行聯繫，因此我們在分析外資名冊和找到合適的投票決策人員方面擁有豐富的經驗。 與Alliance的合作將使得外資溝通更加順暢、輕鬆和高效，并協助優化投資關係部門的預算。

如果您有任何疑問或想了解更多資訊，請隨時與我聯繫。谢谢！

When preparing for an AGM FINI solicitation, the first thing you should do is download the record date FINI list. The next step is to analyze the FINI list to determine who the largest FINIs are. After that, you need to figure out which individual or department at the FINI is responsible for making the voting decision. Then you need to obtain their contact information and reach out to them to make sure they have the AGM handbook (and any other meeting materials) and find out whether they have any questions about the agenda items.

Here are four typical FINI accounts:

The first example (****9210) is a custodial account (a broker). Morgan Stanley will not be voting this account. Rather, the proxies will be transmitted to the underlying holders and they will vote. In this case, since the account is not registered for split voting, the only way this FINI account will be voted at the AGM is if every single underlying holder votes his/her shares in exactly the same manner (or if there is only a single underlying holder). Otherwise, the local custodian will register the account as abstaining. There will likely be several large accounts on your FINI list that are custodial and will not be voted.

The second example (****8455) is a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) and will not vote. Kuwait Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are other examples of SWFs that will not vote. Unfortunately, these accounts, when they appear on the FINI list, tend to be large holders. Norges Bank Investment Management is a SWF fund that does vote. Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) is another large SWF that generally will not vote, but might if you contact the portfolio manager following your stock and specifically request that they vote.

The third example (****2949) is an index fund. BlackRock’s iShares funds and Dimensional Fund Advisors’ DFA funds are other similar examples. All Vanguard funds will be voted by Vanguard’s proxy voting team. This is where analyzing the FINI list before reaching out to investors becomes particularly important. I have seen many companies make the mistake of dividing up the FINI list among several employees (without consolidating the accounts first), which results in Vanguard receiving several calls from different company employees about the same meeting.

Finally, the fourth example (****7293) is a reminder that the fund manager isn’t always the one making the voting decision. In this case, Dimensional is responsible for managing the fund (buying and selling shares), but Teacher Retirement System of Texas retains the voting rights. If this account is on your FINI list, you should be reaching out to TRS Texas, not DFA.

These are not, of course, all the possible FINI account types we have seen, but rather good examples of some of the more prevalent types. When downloading your FINI list, I highly recommend including the English name column. Many FINIs will fill out the English name on their account registration form and leave the Chinese name blank, so Chinese account name is often a translation (or transliteration) of the English name.

I hope this provides some good information for you regarding the potential complexities of your FINI list. Alliance Advisors has been helping Taiwanese companies interface with their FINIs since 2007, so we have extensive experience with analyzing FINI lists and locating the right people to talk to about AGM voting. A partnership with Alliance helps optimize the IR budget by making FINI communications smoother, easier, and more efficient.