Currently on Sharesies, shareholders can take part in:
mandatory corporate actions (for the investments they hold)
some voluntary corporate actions for NZX-listed investments.
Shareholders can't currently take part in voluntary corporate actions for US and ASX-listed investments.
What’s a corporate action?
A corporate action is when a listed company makes an announcement or decision that directly affects the company and its shareholders. Corporate actions are split into two main categories: mandatory and voluntary.
Mandatory
If a corporate action is mandatory, shareholders generally don’t need to do anything to take part—it happens automatically. Examples of mandatory actions include:
Dividends — when a company gives some of its profits back to its shareholders, usually in the form of a cash payment.
Acquisitions — when one company buys another company.
Mergers — when two companies combine to make a new, bigger company.
Share splits and consolidations — when a company increases or decreases the price of its shares, without changing the overall value of the company.
Bonus issue — when a company or fund gives existing shareholders new shares at no charge.
Voluntary
If a corporate action is voluntary, shareholders can choose whether they take part. On Sharesies, you can only participate in voluntary corporate actions for companies listed on the NZX, provided we make them available.
Examples of voluntary actions include capital raises such as rights offers, share placements, and share purchase plans. These offers give shareholders the opportunity to buy more shares in the company, usually at a discounted price.
Read more about corporate actions
Sharesies provides access to capital raising offers. We don’t have any responsibility for the terms or presentation of the capital raising offer. We don’t provide any financial advice as to whether or not you should buy a company's shares. If a company is offering a placement, we may receive a placement fee from the company offering the placement.