August 6, 2015
This is not a decision that should be made for investors and I for one am against it. If you choose to receive important investor documents via electronic media, that should be your option to make but not by default.
Paper is still the preferred method of transmission for investors. According to the SECs own study conducted by Siegel + Gale in 2012, 71 percent of American investors said they prefer to read annual reports in paper format rather than online versions, and a large number of respondents also asserted that printed materials yield higher content comprehension than do online materials.
The paper industry plants more than it harvests and today there are 25% more trees in the developed world than in 1900. Paper is biodegradable, renewable and sustainable. Growing and harvesting trees provides jobs while forestry plantations provide clean air, clean water, wildlife habitat and carbon storage. A decline in the demand for paper products risks a decline in sustainable managed re-growth forests. Use print, it is tangible, it is effective in getting your message across and when recycled it will come back to us as paper or board.
In 1992 there was 360% more wood in the forest than in 1920.
Over 60% of paper today is recycled compared to 18% of electronic devices.
Reading a newspaper everyday spends 20% less carbon-dioxide than reading an online news source for 30 minutes a day.
Your own studies prove people would rather receive via printed material and yet you ignore the people in order to save corporations more money in hopes of more campaign donation money. Sad