The new legislation establishes an Office of the Investor Advocate to help the Securities and Exchange Commission to identify problems facing individual investors and to establish regulations to address them.

Proxy access rules were also changed to make it marginally easier for shareholders to have a say in the composition of boards of directors. "They watered down the proxy requirement so it's still very difficult for any but the very biggest investors to reach," says Baker.

Also under the financial reform act, shareholders are now allowed a nonbinding vote on executive compensation.