Proxyvote.com encourages voting by retail shareholders by allowing them to, with one click, set all votes “for” a corporate board’s recommendations, from electing directors and approving executive pay to adopting anti-takeover defenses. Are they just facilitating voting by a group, “whose participation in corporate elections has been in decline of late,” as Broadridge claims, or […]
Archive | May, 2012
How Investors Really Use Proxy Advisers
James McRitchie, 05/30/2012 ,
Voting Decisions at US Mutual Funds: How Investors Really Use Proxy Advisers (more…)
Use of Exempt Solicitations Up Dramatically in 2012: Chesapeake (CHK) Latest Example
James McRitchie, 05/30/2012 ,
SharkRepellent.net documents the use of PX14A6G filings surged in 2012, Proponents Increasingly Proactive Promoting Their Issues. According to John Laide’s May 22, 2012 post, the number of such campaigns had already reached 45, versus 27 during all of last year. (more…)
Netflix: How I Voted – Proxy Score 20%
James McRitchie, 05/29/2012 ,
Netflix (NFLX) ($NFLX) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/1/2012. Voting ends 5/31 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 7 recommendations “from good causes,” including 3 consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/24. ProxyDemocracy.org had 4 (more…)
De-emphasizing Pay for Performance
James McRitchie, 05/26/2012 ,
It is common knowledge that people are not driven solely by the prospect of financial rewards. Yet, in business, motivational tools for top executives—particularly the CEO—almost singularly comprise financial incentives. In 1980, only 10 percent of the UK’s largest FTSE100 companies utilized incentive arrangements (in the form of cash and stock-based variable pay). Today, they […]
Audio Friday: Fraud Investigations
James McRitchie, 05/25/2012 ,
If you have ever been a victim of a fraud, you know how difficult it is to determine what steps to take to recover your losses. You understand that reporting your experience is only the first step, assuming that (more…)
Wal-Mart: How I Voted – Proxy Score 10%
James McRitchie, 05/24/2012 ,
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) ($WMT) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/1/2012. Voting ends 5/31 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 8 recommendations “from good causes,” including 3 consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/24. ProxyDemocracy.org had 4 funds voting. I voted with management 10% of the time. (more…)
Proxy Access Lost: The Work of Democracy is Never Done
James McRitchie, 05/24/2012 ,
Just as corporations are facing demands for increased democracy through proxy access proposals and vague protests from Occupy Wall Street, some cooperatives, with long-held democratic values are in danger of shifting in the opposite direction through internal (more…)
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX): How I Voted – Proxy Score 33 Revised 5/24/2012
James McRitchie, 05/24/2012 ,
Valeant (VRX) ($VRX) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/30/2012. Voting ends 5/29 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 3 recommendations “from good causes” when I checked and voted on 5/23 but 2 were consolidations of the one. ProxyDemocracy.org had 0 funds voting. I voted with management 33% of the […]
Dreamworks Animation (DWA): How I Voted – Proxy Score 64
James McRitchie, 05/23/2012 ,
Dreamworks Animation (DWA) ($DWA) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/29/2012. Voting ends 5/28 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 4 recommendations “from good causes,” including 2 consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/22. ProxyDemocracy.org had 1 fund voting. I voted with management 64% of the time. (more…)
Links+ Updated: Relational Investors
James McRitchie, 05/22/2012 ,
I’ve updated what I call the Relational Investors portion of our Links+ page. These investment organizations come and go every month, although some have been around since 1995 when CorpGov.net began. At least as of May 22, 2012, the list is fairly comprehensive… although I’m sure many are missing. With all the other information we have […]
SVNACD: Red Flags of an Ethical Collapse & Alternative Proxy Voting Advice to Stem Dual Class IPOs
James McRitchie, 05/22/2012 ,
It was the last SVNACD event of the season and I’m already looking forward to the fall for new programs. Another great program, led by the following: (more…)
Goldman Sachs (GS): How I Voted – Proxy Score 13
James McRitchie, 05/21/2012 ,
Goldman Sachs ($GS) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/24/2012. Voting ends 5/23 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 13 recommendations “from good causes,” but five are actually consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/21. ProxyDemocracy.org had funds voting. I voted with management 13% of the time. (more…)
Amazon (AMZN): How I Voted – Proxy Score 86
James McRitchie, 05/21/2012 ,
OK, my own brother just called to complain that my advice is coming too late, so I’ll try to post at least a couple of days before meetings. Thanks David. Amazon ($AMZN) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/24/2012. Voting ends 5/23 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, […]
Juniper Networks (JNPR): How I Voted – Proxy Score 62
James McRitchie, 05/21/2012 ,
Juniper Networks ($JNPR) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/22/2012. Voting ends 5/21 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had five recommendations “from good causes,” including two consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/19. ProxyDemocracy.org had four funds voting. I voted with management 62% of the time. (more…)
Video Friday: Shareholder Spring and Proxy Fights
James McRitchie, 05/18/2012 ,
Shareholder Spring Power of the Proxy. CNBC interview with Michael Garland, NYC Comptroller’s director of corporate governance and Lisa Lindsley, of AFSCME. (more…)
Gilead Sciences (GILD): Report from the AGM
James McRitchie, 05/17/2012 ,
Gilead Sciences ($GILD) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. I previously blogged about how I voted. Last week, I attended their annual meeting on 5/10/2012 to present John Chevedden’s proposal #4 to allow shareowners to act by written consent. This is an important governance feature allowing shareowners to take action in times of emergency between […]
Weathering a Crisis: Weil in Silicon Valley
James McRitchie, 05/16/2012 ,
On May 8, 2012, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s Silicon Valley office hosted a one day symposium on Weathering a Crisis for corporate leaders and general counsel. Panel discussions focused on how to effectively handle a crisis before it becomes public; how to navigate the media while preserving your company’s public image; and how to implement sound […]
Waste Connections ($WCN): How I Voted – Proxy Score 67
James McRitchie, 05/16/2012 ,
Waste Connections ($WCN) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/18/2012. Voting ends 5/17 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had no recommendations when I checked and voted on 5/15. ProxyDemocracy.org had only 1 fund voting but it was CalSTRS, one of my favorites. I voted with management 67% of the […]
Upcoming Proxy Access Votes
James McRitchie, 05/15/2012 ,
Loren Steffy, of the Houston Chronicle, and Sean Quinn, of the ISS Governance Institute, had recent posts about proxy access and upcoming votes. At Hewlett Packard a shareholder access proposal was withdrawn after the company agreed to sponsor a (more…)
Home Depot (HD): How I Voted – Proxy Score 86
James McRitchie, 05/14/2012 ,
Home Depot ($HD) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/17/2012. Voting ends 5/16 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed 10 “good causes,” but four were consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/14. ProxyDemocracy.org had only 1 fund voting. I voted with management 86% of the time. (more…)
Take Action: Tell SEC to Require Disclosure of CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios
James McRitchie, 05/14/2012 ,
Click here now to tell the SEC to require companies to disclose CEO-to-worker pay ratios. If you own stock, click here to get information on how to vote your shares on “say-on-pay” proxy proposals. (more…)
Princeton National Bancorp (PNBC): How I Voted – Proxy Score 12.5
James McRitchie, 05/14/2012 ,
Princeton National Bancorp ($PNBC) was one of the stocks in my portfolio. I sold it when they failed to file their proxy statement on time, since that looked to me like one more sign that PNBC is nearly a hopeless case. However, I can still vote the shares I held, since I sold well after the […]
Monitoring: Which Institutions Matter?
James McRitchie, 05/13/2012 ,
Worth taking another look, especially in light of the likely upcoming transition at Canadian Pacific (Bill Ackman: ‘A Stake in the Ground, Globe & Mail, 5/11/2012): Li, Kai, Harford, Jarrad and Chen, Xia, Monitoring: Which Institutions Matter?, Available at SSRN. (more…)
Wanted: CalSTRS Portfolio Manager
James McRitchie, 05/12/2012 ,
Work with a great group of people concerned with the sustainability at a comfortable salary in a calm environment (relative to New York). When applying for this position, please note on your application: Position #815-350-4697-002 RPA (11-415). (more…)
Video Friday: Successful Board DNA + Reading International Valuation
James McRitchie, 05/11/2012 ,
Dan Siciliano, Associate Dean, Stanford Law School, interviews C. S. Park, Lead Director, Seagate Board. Presented by the Silicon Valley chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors. (more…)
CEO Pay Continues to Surge: Take Action by Joining USPX
James McRitchie, 05/10/2012 ,
According to GMI, rising share prices helped drive a 15% pay hike for CEOs in 2011, with the average compensation package hitting $5.8M. That’s on top of a 28% pay rise in 2010. Inflation (more…)
Gilead Sciences (GILD): How I Voted – Proxy Score 44
James McRitchie, 05/08/2012 ,
Gilead Sciences (GILD) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/10/2012. Voting ends 5/9 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed 8 “good causes,” but three were consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/8. ProxyDemocracy.org had 4 funds voting.Gilead scores 44 out of 100, since I voted with management on […]
Dow Chemical (DOW): How I Voted – Proxy Score 44
James McRitchie, 05/08/2012 ,
Dow Chemical (DOW) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/10/2012. Voting ends 5/9 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed four “good causes,” including two consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/7. ProxyDemocracy.org had two funds voting. DOW scores 44 out of 100, since I voted with management on only 44% […]
Union Pacific (UNP): How I Voted – Proxy Score 13
James McRitchie, 05/08/2012 ,
Union Pacific (UNP) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/10/2012. Voting ends 5/9 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed nine “good causes,” but three were consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/7. ProxyDemocracy.org had 1 fund voting.UNP scores 13 out of 100, since I voted with management on only […]
Ford Motor Company (FDMTP or F): How I Voted – Proxy Score 67
James McRitchie, 05/08/2012 ,
Ford (FDMTP) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/10/2012. Voting ends 5/9 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed three “good causes,” including two consolidations of only one vote, when I checked and voted on 5/7. ProxyDemocracy.org had two funds voting. Ford scores 67 out of 100, since I voted with […]
3M (MMM): How I Voted
James McRitchie, 05/07/2012 ,
3M (MMM) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/8/2012. Voting ends 5/7 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which listed fourteen “good causes,” including three consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/6. ProxyDemocracy.org had four funds voting. (more…)
Video Friday: “Shareholder Revolution?” TheShareholderActivist.com on Fox Business News
James McRitchie, 05/04/2012 ,
The following is a guest post from “The Wall Street Psychologist” and co-founder of TheShareholderActivist.comTM, Christopher Bayer, Ph.D. Revolution/Evolution is an Historically Valid and Natural Psycho-biological Reaction to Perceived Oppression and Inequity Last week I was invited to appear on the Fox Business News show “After the Bell” hosted by Liz Claman and David Asman. Right […]
Shareholder Activism: Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance Series – Part 3 of 3
James McRitchie, 05/03/2012 ,
This was the last of 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 this session on Contested Situations: Proxy Fights, PR wars and […]
Research Roundup
James McRitchie, 05/02/2012 ,
Blair, Margaret M., The Four Functions of Corporate Personhood (April 9, 2012). Vanderbilt Law and Economics Research Paper No. 12-13; Vanderbilt Public Law Research Paper No. 12-15. Available at SSRN. Abstract follows: In this article I argue that the legal device of creating separate juridical “persons” for certain business activities (more…)