All shareholders of Churchill Downs get free season passes to its racetracks; Willamette Valley Vineyards rewards all its shareholders with discounts on its wines. Nice perks, but why not offer special rewards, in cash or votes, to a company’s most loyal shareholders, say those with lengthy and/or concentrated ownership in the stock? Companies and shareholders would gain from drawing in such patient and focused shareholders.

In today’s markets, trading is driven by a large cohort of transient investors, following news trends. Their lead is amplified by an even larger group of formulaic traders, especially diversified indexers, who buy or sell based on price changes. Left out of the process are the steadying hands of long-term concentrated holders, today a minority group that Warren Buffett long ago dubbed “high-quality shareholders”.