BBRBroadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

Broadridge delivers reports and voting ballots to shareholders — the infrastructure of corporate governance.

Most investors' shares are recorded in a broker's name, so a company does not know its ultimate owners directly. Broadridge stands between them: it distributes meeting materials, collects votes and reports the result. The work is prescribed by law rather than chosen by preference, and practically the whole market runs through one operator.

The second half is record-keeping systems for brokers: trade processing, reporting, tax documents. Replacing such a system is hard, so customers stay for years. Revenue is almost entirely recurring and grows with the number of accounts at brokers. Risks: customer consolidation and regulatory changes to voting procedures. The dividend has been raised for many consecutive years.