Beat the CRA Clock At the end of March, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Congressman Michael San Nicolas (D-Guam), Vice-Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced (S.J. Res. 16; H.J. Res. 36) under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn recently adopted changes to the SEC’s shareholder proposal […]
Tractor Supply 2021 Proxy
Tractor Supply 2021 annual meeting is May 6, 8AM Pacific Time. To attend, visit http://www.meetingcenter.io/215031089. The password for the meeting is TSCO2021. You must submit a legal proxy reflecting your Tractor Supply Company holdings along with your name and email address to Computershare. Requests for registration must be labeled as “Legal Proxy” and be received […]
S&P Global 2021 Proxy Votes
S&P Global 2021 annual meeting is May 5, 8AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit www.meetingcenter.io/283714745. You will need your control number. Of course, I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST , the Auditor, and Pay. Vote FOR . With my broker (TD Ameritrade), the […]
Stryker Corporation 2021 Proxy Votes
Stryker Corporation 2021 annual meeting is May 5, 2021, at 11AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/SYK2021 and enter the 16-digit control number. With my broker (TD Ameritrade), the only place I can find that control number is in a “vote now!” email I received long ago. If you deleted […]
Bristol-Myers Squibb 2021 Proxy Votes
Bristol-Myers Squibb 2021 annual meeting is May 4, 2021, at 7:00 AM Pacific. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/BMY2021 and enter your 16-digit control number. With my broker (TD Ameritrade), the only place I can find that control number is in a “vote now!” email I received long ago. If you […]
Edwards Lifescience 2021 Proxy Votes
Edwards Lifescience 2021 annual meeting is May 4, 10 AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit www.proxydocs.com/EW. They do not make it easy. I had to put in my control number, which was not in the TDAmeritrade library where I vote proxies. I had to find the control number […]
Amazon Shareholders Unite (Updated)
Amazon Shareholders Unite Amazon Shareholder Unite for two two-way dialogues. Last summer I warned that chat rooms are the key missing ingredient at virtual shareholder meetings. Chat rooms before and after meetings would allow shareholders to interact informally with each other and with corporate representatives, as they do at in-person meetings. Virtual chat rooms would […]
Kimberly-Clark 2021 AGM Proxy Votes
Kimberly-Clark 2021 annual meeting is April 29, 7AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions visit www.meetingcenter.io/277152589 (password: KMB2021). Vote in advance, especially since the meeting is hosted by a company other than Broadridge. You may not be able to vote at the meeting, as even the proxy acknowledges. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST […]
Kellogg 2021 Proxy Votes
Kellogg 2021 annual meeting is April 30, 10 Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/K2021 and enter the 16-digit control number. I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Zack Gund and Don Knauss, Pay, and Auditor. Vote FOR Reduce Supermajority Requirements and Shareholder Right to Call […]
Earth Day 2021: A Time to Reflect on Progress and Remaining Challenges
Earth Day 2021: How shareholder advocacy can make a difference Earth Day occurs on April 22, as it has since its founding in 1970. Some credit Earth Day’s establishment as the beginning of the modern environmental movement. As a child, I remember attending school assemblies commemorating Earth Day. Speakers stressed the era’s key environmental themes […]
Citigroup 2021 AGM Proxy Votes (update 1)
Citigroup 2021 annual meeting is April 27, 9AM Eastern Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CITI2021 and enter the 16-digit control number. Of course, I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Dugan, Henry, Jacobs, Reiner, Taylor, Wynaendts, Zedillo, Auditor, Pay, Stock Incentives. Vote FOR Improve Proxy Access, […]
Guidance Needed to Issuers on the Presentation of Shareholder Proposals
VIA EMAIL: coatesjo@sec.gov John Coates, Acting Director Division of Corporation Finance U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F Street NE Washington, DC 20549 April 14, 2021 Re: Guidance Needed to Issuers on the Presentation of Shareholder Proposals Dear Director Coates: I am writing to urge the Division of Corporation Finance to issue guidance to issuers […]
ESG Insider April 9, 2021 Podcast & More
ESG Insider April 9 is the most recent S&P Global podcast. Co-hosts Lindsey White and Esther Whieldon interview the sponsors of several new proxy proposals. As a shareholder advocate trying to get the word out on my own proposals, I found it interesting and informative. Last season I participated in Tesla Investor Briefing 2020 AGM with […]
Exit vs Voice
Exit vs Voice? (link) Which strategy is most effective in moving us in a positive direction? Although most investors, especially retail investors, appear focused on exit by moving to ESG funds, the authors conclude voice is the more effective tool. From the abstract: We study the relative effectiveness of exit (divestment and boycott) and voice […]
Shareholder Rights in 2021
SEC to Protect Shareholder Rights in 2021 Shareholder rights in 2021 will strengthen if recent speculation is realized. U.S. Senate Democrats aim to undo Trump-era shareholder voting rights rule. Shareholder Rights in 2021: History As discussed elsewhere on CorpGov.net (Review: Carl Gershenson). After its founding, the SEC was largely a champion of shareholder rights, requiring companies […]
Partners at Starbucks: Proposal #4 Would Strengthen Their Voice
Proposal #4 aims at increasing diversity by adding a worker to the pool of candidates to be considered for the Board. The idea is to increase the voice of “partners.” We’ve been listening and seeing how important partners are to Starbucks. (more…)
Starbucks 2021 AGM: Worker Voice
Starbucks 2021 annual meeting is March 17, 10AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting link and enter your control number. I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Allison, Dillon, Nadella, Ramo, Shih, Teruel, Pay, Auditor. Vote FOR #4 Increase Diversity of Director Nominees / Employee Board Representation. (more…)
Experiences at Virtual Shareholder Meetings: Survey Request
Experiences at Virtual Shareholder Meetings: Guest Post Dear Investors, I have conducted a study on how virtual shareholder meetings affect communication with shareholders, How Shifting from In-Person to Virtual Shareholder Meetings Affects Shareholders’ Voice. (more…)
Disney 2021 Shareholders to Empower Workers?
Disney 2021 annual meeting is March 9, 10 AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting, visit virtualshareholdermeeting.com/DIS2021 and enter your control number. I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Iger, Barra, Lagomasio, Parker, the Auditor, and Pay. Vote FOR Lobbying Disclosure and Increase Diversity of Director […]
What Does It Profit Podcast
What Does It Profit is a relatively new podcast series and more hosted by Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Of course, the name of her podcast derives from the Biblical reference (Mark 8:36): What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Carpenter argues we can’t put our price tag on what […]
SHARE Summit 2021: Quick Takes
SHARE Summit 2021 was a virtual event this year. I missed the sidebar conversations so important at most conferences. Additionally, since I was home and had plenty of work to do, I attended fewer sessions than I would have in Vancouver. Still, even when virtual, this annual conference is among the best. I cannot think […]
Apple 2021: Proxy Access Amendment Needed to Increase Value
Apple 2021 annual meeting is February 23, 9AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit virtualshareholdermeeting.com/AAPL2021 and enter the 16-digit control number. Of course, I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Gore, Levinson, Sugar, the Auditor, and Pay. Vote FOR Proxy Access Amendment and Improve Executive […]
The Giant Shadow of Corporate Gadflies
The Giant Shadow of Corporate Gadflies, by Yaron Nili and Kobi Kastiel, (download at SSRN) is one of the more objective reviews of the recent influence of “gadflies” on corporate governance in America. It might have been even better if the authors had discussed their work with the subjects of their study – the gadflies. (Disclosure: […]
Reform No-Action Process
Reform No-Action Process Reform no-action process. That was the call of a recent letter by the Shareholder Rights Group to John Coates in his new role as Acting Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. The letter is posted below. Some formatting changes were made and I added links to put our request to reform […]
SHARE Investor Summit 2021: Register
SHARE Investor Summit 2021, register. This will be a fantastic virtual event, February 16-19, 2021. Against the backdrop of the social and economic impacts of COVID-19, escalating wealth inequality, systemic racism, and the continuing climate crisis, we rise to the challenge. The SHARE Investor Summit 2021 brings together investment decision-makers and leaders to identify ways of […]
Halt Corporate Political Spending
Halt Corporate Political Spending. That is the recommendation of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a coalition of investors representing over $US 2 trillion in assets under management. ICCR released a statement to the CEO members of the Business Roundtable (BRT) urging them to refrain from political spending. Take a six-month break and assess inherent […]
Professor Gensler: Unsolicited Advice
Professor Gensler Congratulations. When confirmed to chair the SEC, you can take a major role in reconstructing our financial and economic systems. Below, I offer the unsolicited advice of a real “Main Street” investor. Central to a recovery that helps America address its many issues (institutional racism, inequality, climate change, anomie, etc.) is a system […]
Woodward 2021 Shareholder Presentation 1/27
Woodward 2021 Shareholder Presentation: Background My proxy voting recommendations for the January 27, 2021 meeting can be found at Woodward 2021: Empower Workers. The meeting begins at 7 AM Pacific Time. View the Proxy Statement via SEC’s EDGAR system. This post is a draft of my presentation of Proposal #5. Registered shareholders will be sent a link one hour prior […]
Gary Gensler SEC Chairman: Predictions and Advice
Gary Gensler, a former financial regulator, and Goldman Sachs banker, now at MIT, is rumored Biden’s choice to head the SEC. As head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), he helped uncover interest-rate rigging on Libor, which underpins $300T in loans. Banks had to cough up $9B in fines. He pushed for transparency around derivative trading and […]
Woodward 2021: Empower Workers
Woodward 2021 annual meeting is January 27th, 8AM Mountain Standard Time. Shareholders need to register in advance (by 3PM MST on 1/25/21) to attend the virtual meeting. Register at the bottom of this page. You cannot cut and paste your 12 or 16 digit control number. You must enter it twice, along with some other […]