I posted this question awhile ago but don't see it listed
and never got a reply, so here goes again.

Our club just went on unit-based ownership (as opposed to
equal shares). That means that some people can have more
ownership in the portfolio than others. We are struggling
with the question - how do we vote? If, for example,
someone owns $50K worth of units, and another owns $25K
worth, do they still each have one vote when it comes time
to vote on stock purchases and club policies? Advice is
needed.

Marcia,

This is a topic upon which you are not going to find agreement. Some
people feel vehemently that the vote should be proportionate to the
units held. Others feel, just as strongly, that it should be one
person-one vote. Still others offer a compromise, saying that it's one
person-one vote, unless someone calls for a vote by units.

My own feeling is that an investment club should be run on a one
person-one vote concept. I have never found that just because a person
owns more units that he/she has acquired any more wisdom. I belonged to
a club to hear varying view points, and I would rather give weight to
those view points on some criteria other than how many units the person
happens to own. If a person is uncomfortable holding more units and only
having an equal vote, he/she can always bring his/her participation down
to the level of others, or find a club that has members whose judgment
he trusts more than this present partners.

Finally, I think the compromise outlined above is a particularly bad
piece of muddled thinking and would be against that. What it means is
voting by units owned, but just not calling it that.

Good luck. Remember that everyone has a different opinion on this, but
you won't find a better one than mine <g>.

Rip West
Saint Paul, MN

We actually do it in two ways. Any decisions that affect
people are typically one man/one vote. For example, to
elect a President requires a majority headcount and throwing
out a member requires a 2/3 headcount. Revisions to
policies are voted on with each person's share in the
partnership being a weight on their vote. So if I own 25%
of the partnership and someone else owns 50%, my vote counts
for half of their vote.

Marcia De Fren wrote:
> I posted this question awhile ago but don't see it listed
> and never got a reply, so here goes again.
>
> Our club just went on unit-based ownership (as opposed to
> equal shares). That means that some people can have more
> ownership in the portfolio than others. We are struggling
> with the question - how do we vote? If, for example,
> someone owns $50K worth of units, and another owns $25K
> worth, do they still each have one vote when it comes time
> to vote on stock purchases and club policies? Advice is
> needed.

On Apr 4, 2005, at 11:33 PM, Paul D. Ellwood wrote:

> We actually do it in two ways. Any decisions that affect
> people are typically one man/one vote. For example, to
> elect a President requires a majority headcount and throwing
> out a member requires a 2/3 headcount. Revisions to
> policies are voted on with each person's share in the
> partnership being a weight on their vote. So if I own 25%
> of the partnership and someone else owns 50%, my vote counts
> for half of their vote.
>
> Marcia De Fren wrote:
>> I posted this question awhile ago but don't see it listed
>> and never got a reply, so here goes again.
>>
>> Our club just went on unit-based ownership (as opposed to
>> equal shares). That means that some people can have more
>> ownership in the portfolio than others. We are struggling
>> with the question - how do we vote? If, for example,
>> someone owns $50K worth of units, and another owns $25K
>> worth, do they still each have one vote when it comes time
>> to vote on stock purchases and club policies? Advice is
>> needed.
>