[BobaFloutist]

I mean they also send me an email to vote with my fractional S&P 500 shares whenever a shareholder vote comes up, so even if they're the on-paper owner of the shares they seem to pass through the voting rights every bit as much as the direct value and dividends.

[bluGill]

You are probably voting for the ownership of the fund, and not the companies the fund owns. Unless you get around 500 different share holder vote forms every year you are not voting for the companies in question you are just voting for the leaders of your funds. (around 500 because S&P 500 funds often buy companies like what is in the S&P500, but not always exactly the same companies. Even if they want to be exactly the same companies they take time to buy and sell anytime the S&P500 changes just because the market could not handle them buying/selling everything the minute the S&P list changes)

[BobaFloutist]

You know what, looking again I've only gotten emails for the individual stocks I hold, so I was mistaken.