"You have to make the most of what you've got", says investor champion Sheryl Cuisia, who is on a mission to own at least one share in every single UK-listed company.
Talking to FT Adviser editor Simoney Kyriakou on the latest editor's podcast, Cuisia said there was still a disconnect between what institutions think they are doing to woo younger and diverse generations of savers and investors, and what is actually happening.
As a young person working in the arts, she said she wanted to start investing and taking control of her finances but found there appeared to be "huge gaps" between what investors wanted and expected of the companies whose shares they hold, and what the companies themselves were doing.
As she started on her investment journey, Cuisia said she soon realised the importance of engagement, as she began to go to AGMs to learn more about what the companies she had been investing in were actually doing.
She found often there was a lack of communication, which in the most extreme cases could accelerate a listed company's demise.
"The human impact of corporate failure is so evident", she said. "Companies can go into administration almost overnight and shareholders are left on the verge of tears, but had the companies engaged with individual investors, they could have foreseen some issues and listened to what shareholders really wanted."
From this revelation came the launch of Cuisia's initiative, The Engagement Appeal, which aims to help both companies and individuals achieve more inclusive investor engagement through constructivism and inter-generational collaboration, and improve the diversity of investors who actually engage with listed companies.
She encourages people of all ages to go to AGMs, no matter how few shares they might own. "They're not boring. It is important", she urges.
Cuisia said: "Attending AGMs is so fascinating - you get to understand what companies are doing well, and can challenge them as to what else they can do to improve", she said.
"AGMs in this country seem to be seen by companies as just 'something we have to do', where septuagenarians just turn up and complain about the biscuits. But that's the one time in the year that investors see the whole board sitting together.
"You get to see the dynamics and ask questions. You might even have fun, like they do at the Berkshire Hathaway AGMs."
Cuisia's plan is to effectively follow in the footsteps of Wilma Soss and the other so-called Corporate Gadflies, who were pioneers in corporate activism in the 1940s, using shareholder meetings as platforms to advocate for gender equality and transparency in corporate boards.
