A registered holder position is the number of shares or bonds entered against a particular name in the register kept by the issuer or its registrar. The person or entity so named is the holder of record: the issuer pays dividends and interest to it, sends it notices and counts its votes. For shares the record is the share register.
In most markets the registered holder is not the end investor. Securities held through intermediaries are registered in the name of a depository's nominee or a custodian's nominee company, which holds for many clients at once, typically in an omnibus account. The investor's entitlement is recorded further down the chain as a beneficial owner position. Operations teams reconcile the two levels, because the registered position must equal the total of the underlying client holdings, and differences can lead to missed entitlements or votes. Issuers wishing to see through nominees rely on shareholder identification procedures.