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 […]
Email About 2FA Status
Email about 2FA Status was sent out automatically to subscribers on January 11th. Please accept our apology and ignore the email. Email About 2FA Status We installed a plug-in to require two-factor verification to modify the website. This seemed like a reasonable security measure. I had no idea it would also apply to users attempting […]
Empowering Employees 2021
Empowering Employees 2021 through workers on boards, workers councils, director liaisons, and/or ESOP trusts. Help us move to more democratic workplace cultures. (more…)
Corporate Accountability Spring 2021 Online Workshop
Corporate Accountability Spring 2021: Restoring the Balance. Our online course repeats, again lead by shareholder advocate Jim McRitchie. The class is offered through the Renaissance Society, an extension program of California State University, Sacramento. The class is held on Zoom, so can be taken from anywhere with a good internet connection. Mondays, Feb. 8 to […]
Virtual Shareholder Meetings 2021
Virtual Shareholder Meetings 2021. The Report of the 2020 Multi-Stakeholder Working Group on Practices for Virtual Shareholder Meetings came out about a month ago. I (James McRitchie) was happy to participate in the group, which did a good job of considering diverse views. Kudos to Amy Borrus, Darla Stuckey, and Doug Chia. My major contribution ensured […]
Majority Voting 2021: Corporate Petitions
Majority Voting 2021. Proxy proposals provide powerful tools to hold corporations accountable. YourStake.org is an online petition platform for financial advisors. The combined savings of many citizens make up the majority of investment into big companies. Companies already respond to big investors. Now they will respond to you if you let them know your concerns. Find a financial […]
Guidewire Software 2020: Simple Majority Vote Standard
Guidewire Software 2020 annual meeting is December 15th. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Andrew Brown, Michael Keller, Auditor, Pay, Stock Plan. Vote FOR Adopt Simple Majority Vote Standard. The virtual-only webcast will start at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. (more…)
WD-40 2020: Employee Voice
WD-40 2020, where employee voice and empowerment is on the ballot. The WD-40 2020 annual meeting is Tuesday, December 8th. To enhance long-term value, vote AGAINST the auditor and FOR all other items, including #4. $WDFC (more…)
N-PX Data Tagging: Critical to Our Future
N-PX Data Tagging? Yes, that might be the most important rulemaking the SEC could undertake to move our economy in a positive direction. SEC Commissioner Allison Herron Lee gives voice to this small change that could have a dramatic impact on how America invests (about 7 minutes into the video below). Read the text. Structuring […]
Broadridge 2020: Dark Money
Broadridge 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 9:00 AM Eastern. Attend meeting online, vote your shares, and submit questions during the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/BR20. You need the Control Number provided to you (usually by your broker or bank) to join the meeting. To enhance long-term value: […]
Election Fraud Attempt by Citigroup
Election fraud attempt by Citigroup points to the need for more participation in decision-making by employees to ensure ethical conduct. Citigroup tries to cheat by telling us we need to meet SEC rules today for the 2021 AGM that don’t become effective until 2022. With a market cap of more than $82B, don’t tell me […]
Marrone Bio Last Chance to Vote
Marrone Bio Last Chance to Vote Marrone Bio Innovation’s AGM is tomorrow, October 29th at 9 AM Pacific. Unless you attend the meeting and vote quickly, today is your last chance. See my voting recommendations. I (James McRitchie) will present my proposal. It appears on the proxy as follows: #5 “To Consider a stockholder proposal […]
ESG Options in DC Plans
ESG Options in DC Plans? Morningstar can help you find them. President Trump’s Department of Labor aims to limit ESG investing in retirement plans, although even law firms recognize the need for ESG research. Fund flows and investor interest remained high according to Morningstar’s research, even amid the year’s earlier market downturn. Insights from Morningstar discuss how the Presidential […]