E.W. Scripps (SSP) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/2/2012. Voting ends 5/1 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed three “good causes,” including two consolidations, when I checked and voted on 4/30. ProxyDemocracy.org had only one fund voting. (more…)
Archive | April, 2012
HESS: How I Voted
James McRitchie, 04/30/2012 ,
Hess Corporation (HESS) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/2/2012. Voting ends 5/1 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed five “good causes,” including two consolidations, when I checked and voted on 4/27. ProxyDemocracy.org had only one fund voting. (more…)
EMC: How I Voted
James McRitchie, 04/29/2012 ,
EMC Corporation (EMC) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/1/2012. Voting ends 4/30 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed six “good causes,” including two consolidations, when I checked and voted on 4/27. ProxyDemocracy.org had three funds voting. (more…)
ROVI: How I Voted
James McRitchie, 04/28/2012 ,
Rovi Corporation (ROVI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/1/2012. Voting ends 4/30 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed no recommendations from “good causes” when I checked and voted on 4/27. ProxyDemocracy.org had only three funds voting. (more…)
Video Friday: Client or Muppet? Muppet or ShareOwner? Kermit Responds
James McRitchie, 04/27/2012 ,
Two Goldman Sachs “clients” take a look at themselves after Greg Smith’s New York Times op-ed in this musical puppet number. A parody of the Oscar-winning song “Man or Muppet” rewritten by author and (more…)
IRRC Announces Research Competition
James McRitchie, 04/26/2012 ,
The Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) Institute announce its second annual competition for research that examines the interaction of the real economy with investment theory. Two papers – one academic and one practitioner – each will receive the “2013 IRRC Institute Research Award” along with a $10,000 award. A blue-ribbon panel of renowned judges with […]
Shareholder Activism: Stanford Rock – Part 2 of 3
James McRitchie, 04/26/2012 ,
This was the second in a three part overview of shareholder activism, beginning with the history and an overview of the key players in the space; continuing with a behind-the-scenes look at non-contentious shareholder engagement and how its impacting companies and the market; and ending with an overview of proxy fights, PR wars and activist […]
Ferro (FOE): Will Shareowners Vote for Change?
James McRitchie, 04/25/2012 ,
Ferro (FOE) is not one of the stocks in my portfolio but I did help in reviewing companies I thought were good candidates for a proxy access proposal and I did help design the proposal submitted to FOE, so I’m offering my voting advice. (more…)
GE: Proxy Voting Advice from Steven Towns
James McRitchie, 04/24/2012 ,
General Electric’s (GE) annual shareowner meeting is tomorrow (Weds.) in Detroit. Steven Towns prepared two write-ups surrounding GE’s annual meeting: (more…)
NACD Fellowships Awarded
James McRitchie, 04/24/2012 ,
The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) announced the highest level of director credentialing–NACD Fellowship–for 303 corporate directors and corporate governance professionals. (more…)
Review: Shareholder Democracies?
James McRitchie, 04/24/2012 ,
Shareholder Democracies?: Corporate Governance in Britain and Ireland before 1850 addresses a central issue. Current governance structures often allow managers to pursue their own interests. According to some, a dissemblance of democracy has led to “elitism and self-interest in the boardroom,” resulting in (more…)
Praxis Contest on Corporate Governance
James McRitchie, 04/23/2012 ,
BlackRock and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) issued an invitation to undergraduate and graduate students, PhD researchers and university faculty to participate in a (more…)
Proxy Season: Quick Bites
James McRitchie, 04/21/2012 ,
Don’t miss the great infographic at MoxyVote on proxy season. This is why I’m not returning e-mails (more…)
Video Friday: The Year of Shareholder Communications
James McRitchie, 04/20/2012 ,
TK Kerstetter, President, Corporate Board Member, talks with Francis Byrd, Senior Vice President, Laurel Hill Advisory Group. (more…)
Shareholder Activism: Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance Series – Part 1 of 3
James McRitchie, 04/19/2012 ,
Mason Morfit, a partner at ValueAct Capital and one of the most successful shareholder activists in the US, according to the Rock Center announcement, and Abe Friedman, of CJB Capital Management (former Global Head of Corporate Governance & (more…)
Advice from AFL-CIO & CorpGov.net on Exec Pay & the 99%
James McRitchie, 04/19/2012 ,
Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO announced an update to their PayWatch website—this year’s version is called CEO Pay and the 99%. Trumka says it’s your one-stop shop for the most recent information on out-of-control CEO pay and what you can do to stop it. (more…)
Bank of America (BAC): What Would We Do As Owners?
James McRitchie, 04/19/2012 ,
Bank of America executives, investors, and opponents alike reacted with surprise to yesterday’s news—posted for two hours on Dow Jones Newswire and elsewhere—that the mammoth financial institution, realizing it was heading for a taxpayer bailout, was asking Americans to start thinking about what they’ll do with the bank once they own it, and to start […]
Review: Investing in Japan
James McRitchie, 04/18/2012 ,
Investing in Japan by Steven Towns carries the subtitle, “There is no stock market as undervalued and as misunderstood as Japan.” Towns might be right. He guides the reader to plenty of undervalued companies but (more…)
SEC Reforms Economic Analysis
James McRitchie, 04/17/2012 ,
SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro testified today before the Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs Oversight and Government Reform Committee, U.S. House of Representatives. Excerpts below: (more…)
Kellogg (K): How I Voted
James McRitchie, 04/16/2012 ,
Kellogg (K) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/20/2012. Voting ends 4/19 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed recommendations from five “good causes,” including two consolidations. ProxyDemocracy.org had only one fund voting. (more…)
Citigroup (C): How I Voted
James McRitchie, 04/15/2012 ,
Citigroup (C) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/17/2012. Voting ends 4/16 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed recommendations from ten “good (more…)
Video Friday: SVNACD Series on What Makes an Effective Board
James McRitchie, 04/12/2012 ,
See details of upcoming meeting on the DNA of a successful board below. Richard Levy, chairman of Varian Medical Systems, talks with Jim Balassone, executive-in-residence at the (more…)
Upcoming Shareowner Meetings
James McRitchie, 04/11/2012 ,
Powered by Jackie Cook’s Fund Votes, a handy list of upcoming meetings. Research voting guidelines at FundVotes, how respected funds and advocates have voted at Proxy Democracy and MoxyVote. Vote proxies using Moxy Vote’s (more…)
Panel Discussion: Taxing Wealth Like Work – the Buffett Rule
James McRitchie, 04/11/2012 ,
C-SPAN will broadcast the tax fairness panel discussion at noon today (Eastern). Here are two ways to get in the loop from afar: (more…)
British Petroleum (BP): How I Voted
James McRitchie, 04/10/2012 ,
British Petroleum (BP) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/12/2012. Voting ends 4/11 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had no voting (more…)
SEC Names Investor Advisory Committee
James McRitchie, 04/10/2012 ,
The Securities and Exchange Commission finally announced the formation of its new Investor Advisory Committee required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. (more…)
Help Wanted: Exec Director @ Conference Board Governance Ctr
James McRitchie, 04/10/2012 ,
The Conference Board is searching for an Executive Director of The Conference Board Governance Center. From the Blue-Ribbon (more…)
Schlumberger (SLB): How I Voted
James McRitchie, 04/09/2012 ,
Schlumberger (SLB) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/11/2012 in Curacao, frequently referred to as “one of the Caribbean’s best-kept secrets,” and not easy to get to from (more…)
Tips from Ralph Ward's Boardroom Insider
James McRitchie, 04/09/2012 ,
The April edition of this slim publication for directors, as always, is jammed with tips. While all were informative (Ward’s publication is one of a few where I generally read every article), a few jumped out: (more…)
Video Friday: 50 Nuggets in 60 Minutes
James McRitchie, 04/06/2012 ,
Excerpt from a 2011 Corporate Governance conference. Uploaded by Dr. R. Leblanc on Mar 30, (more…)
Voting: What’s New in 2012
James McRitchie, 04/05/2012 ,
There are three new or continuing developments this year, according to the SEC: (more…)
Changes at CII
James McRitchie, 04/04/2012 ,
Earlier today, I posted a note about Anne Simpson going onto the board of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). Now I see that Anne Sheehan, director of corporate governance at CalSTRS, was elected chairwoman of CII and Michael McCauley, (more…)
Simpson Joins Influential CII Board
James McRitchie, 04/04/2012 ,
CalPERS announced on Monday, April 2nd that Anne Simpson, who heads their corporate governance efforts, has been elected to the Board of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). (more…)
SSSP Seeks Student Papers
James McRitchie, 04/03/2012 ,
The deadline for the SSSP division Student Paper Competition is MAY 1st. Yet, the Conflict, Social Action and Change Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems has only (more…)
Murdoch Exits Post at BSkyB
James McRitchie, 04/03/2012 ,
Reacting to the news that James Murdoch is standing down as BSkyB chair, Alan MacDougall, managing director of PIRC, said: (more…)