photo: snacktime2007/ BY-NC-SA

By Lauren Silverman

One hundred and eight pages. That's my next reading assignment. No, it's not the last chapters of one of Steig Larsson's novels. It's the "proxy statement" from Morgan Stanley.

Back in August, I went online and put the majority of my savings in Morgan Stanley's "Special Value Fund." I didn't realize Mr. Stanley would soon be asking me for advice on how to manage his company.

Let me explain. Two years ago, I couldn't tell the difference between a stock chart and a seismograph, which you have to admit look pretty similar. Then, the financial crisis hit. And all the talk about bonds, bankruptcy, and billions made me want to learn how markets work. So I started practicing on stock market game websites - like the Investopedia Simulator.

To my surprise, I actually did pretty well. So when analysts started raving about bargain stock deals, I decided it was time to take the money I had saved up from babysitting and selling jewelry out of the bank and invest it. My stock market-savvy uncle Richard nudged me to invest everything. But my dad, who would rather have me walk on cement than eggshells, told me to slow down. So I compromised and kept about twenty percent squirreled away in the bank.

A year later, here I am: sitting on the floor in my apartment with a long letter from Morgan Stanley in my hands.

Okay, I know a reminder notice to cast a proxy vote isn't exactly an invitation to the company picnic or anything, but I am still honored to know Morgan Stanley wants my opinion on his plans for the future of his company.

The only problem is I can't quite figure out what his plans for the future are, or even who's behind them.

The letter says "Dear shareholder (that's me!)... You are being asked to approve the transitioning of the Morgan Stanley Funds of which you own shares to a new fund family."

I squint my eyes and push through the small Times New Roman font... "Specifically, as a shareholder of one or more Morgan Stanley Funds identified on the Notice of Joint Special Meeting of Shareholders (each, a "MS Fund" and, collectively, the "MS Funds"), you are being asked to consider and approve an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization...."

Luckily, I spot a footnote type explanation at the bottom of the first page. In big bold letters it reads: "The Board of Directors of each MS Fund has unanimously approved and recommends that you vote "FOR" the proposal."

I give myself a recap: The people on the board of Morgan Stanley are recommending that I marry into a new family that I know absolutely nothing about. They are taking the shares I own and transferring them to a new fund owned by a company I have never heard of. The prospectus doesn't even include short bios for my new kin. That's worse than e-harmony or match.com. They could at least tell me whether my new relatives listen to Alice in Chains or Rihanna. I spend hours trying to dig up information on the new managers and I can't find anything.

Now I'm pissed off. Proxy voting is important. It is one of the only ways to hold management accountable to shareowners. In principle, it should pull back the blinds on a company and give us shareholders a clear script, spelled out scene-by-scene. In practice, proxy voting amounts to sending out a stack of papers splattered with black ink - leaving shareholders like me more confused than ever. It comes of no surprise then, that over the past few years the number of retail shareholders casting their vote has plummeted.

What bothers me most is that this comes after watching the financial crisis unfold. And at a time when Wall Street's most profitable company - Goldman Sachs - is being charged with misleading investors by not disclosing critical information.

How many times do we have to learn the same lesson: The people behind these major investment firms have the power to make or break not only our wallets, but also worldwide economic performance. When they get carried away, we shareholders are left trying to understand what just happened.

If the board at any mutual fund really wants us to take ownership of our investments, they need to help us get to know our directors. Until then, a proxy vote feels very empty.