Goldman Lets Retail Investors Default to Board Voting Position

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is introducing an opt-in feature that allows retail investors to have their votes automatically align with the board's position, according to a recent SEC letter clearing the plan.

The program, administered by Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., will allow shareholders who enroll to still switch their votes on any specific item at annual meetings or opt out entirely.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said, 'We are pleased to provide our individual investors with this free and flexible way to ensure their shares are voted on important matters.'

The move follows last year's compensation showdown, in which a third of voting shareholders objected to two $80 million retention bonuses for Solomon and President John Waldron.

Regulators cleared the plan after the timing followed last year's backlash against Goldman's pay package, where investors representing about a quarter of the company's shares did not vote on the pay item at all. Retail investors account for about 30% of Goldman's shares, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Golman is taking a cue from ExxonMobil Holdings Corp., which received the SEC's approval for this type of default voting program in September 2025 and saw an increase in shareholder participation at its meeting this year. However, not everyone is on board as former SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw pointed to the policy as evidence of looser corporate-governance rules that benefit company management at the expense of accountability.