The UCLA School of Law is seeking a highly talented, experienced individual to be the Executive Director of the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law to start July 1, 2013. The Institute’s mission is to bring world class policy analysis, research and educational opportunities in business law and […]
Archive | February, 2013
AFL-CIO Key Votes Survey Results for 2012
James McRitchie, 02/28/2013 ,
Vanguard, Northern Trust, BlackRock and Fidelity scored the lowest among researched funds in supporting AFL-CIO endorsed proxy issues in 2012, according to their 2012 Key Votes Survey. Calvert, Amalgamated Bank, McMorgan and Bridgeway scored the highest. On proxy-voting issues at 32 companies the AFL-CIO considers representative of a “worker-owner view of value that emphasizes management accountability and good corporate governance,” Vanguard […]
Americans Support Pensions for All
James McRitchie, 02/26/2013 ,
A new nationwide public opinion research report finds overwhelming support for Congressional action to provide all Americans with access to a new type of privately run pension plan. The research also finds that Americans remain highly anxious about their retirement prospects (85 percent), and see pensions a way to improve their retirement readiness. Even though […]
Environmental and Social Shareowner Proposals Gain Traction
James McRitchie, 02/26/2013 ,
Key Characteristics of Prominent Shareholder-sponsored Proposals on Environmental and Social Topics, 2005-2011, released by the IRRC Institute (IRRCi) and researched by Ernst & Young LLP finds environmental and social (E+S) shareowner proposals are gaining increased support from investors at US companies. Download the report, presentation, press release and even replay the webinar from IRRCi’s website. (more…)
SVNACD Now SVDX
James McRitchie, 02/25/2013 ,
The Silicon Valley Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (SVNACD) sent an e-mail to members and friends last Friday notifying us they are changing their name to the Silicon Valley Directors’ Exchange. Here’s the body of the notice from the Board of Directors: Our new name reflects our mission: we are a forum […]
Walt Disney (DIS): How I Voted – Proxy Score 17
James McRitchie, 02/24/2013 ,
The Walt Disney Company ($DIS) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/06/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked on 2/26/2012. I added CalSTRS below, which announced their votes earlier. I voted with management 17% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote […]
Qualcomm Agrees to Additional Disclosure of Political Spending
James McRitchie, 02/22/2013 ,
Qualcomm Incorporated and the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) announced the Fund has dropped the lawsuit it filed on January 2, 2013 because Qualcomm agreed to implement a revised political spending disclosure policy. According to Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, the CEO and Chairman of Qualcomm, (more…)
Video Friday: Resonance – Beings of Frequency
James McRitchie, 02/22/2013 ,
Resonance: This James Russell film is a sensational eye opening documentary that examines 60 years of scientific research! No, it isn’t exactly “corporate governance,” but it does seem important enough to post so that it will spread. (more…)
Apple: How I Voted, Proxy Score – 46
James McRitchie, 02/20/2013 ,
Apple ($AAPL) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/27/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I checked on 2/19/2012. They listed the votes of six funds voting as of yesterday. I voted with management 46% of the time. View Proxy Statement. I voted, despite David Einhorn’s attempt to get an […]
The Jobs Act: Challenges and Opportunities
James McRitchie, 02/20/2013 ,
As the United States continues to rebuild its economy, the JOBS Act will impact businesses and financial markets. Legal practitioners, scholars, and students must be proficient in the legal and business aspects of the JOBS Act. This symposium will facilitate discussions of potent topics related to the future of securities transactions regulated under the JOBS […]
Faith-Based Investing: Believers Engaging the Boardroom
James McRitchie, 02/19/2013 ,
The following guest post comes from Usman Hayat, was published by the CFA Institute on 13 February 2013, and is republished here with permission. Why, how, and to what effect do faith-based investors engage with companies to seek positive social and environmental change? A recent report, “Believers in the Boardroom: Religious Organizations and Their Shareholder Engagement Practices” […]
Harvard to Create Sustainable Investment Officer Position
James McRitchie, 02/19/2013 ,
Harvard Management Company, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University that manages Harvard’s endowment, will establish a new senior level position devoted to overseeing the environmental, social, and corporate governance-related aspects of the university’s investments. (more…)
Webinar on Environmental & Social Proxy Proposals
James McRitchie, 02/18/2013 ,
The Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute will host a webinar on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 1 PM ET to review the findings of a new study that finds environmental and social (E+S) shareholder proposals are gaining increased voting support from investors at U.S. public companies. From 2005-2011, average support for these proposals more than […]
Ceres Ranked #6 on Global Journal's Top 100 NGOs List
James McRitchie, 02/18/2013 ,
Congratulations to Ceres and for providing Corporate Governance readers another reason for attending the upcoming Ceres Conference 2013, San Francisco, May 1-2. See my coverage of their 2009 conference. According to Global Journal: (more…)
Quicker Disclosure of Ownership Petitioned – Updated
James McRitchie, 02/16/2013 ,
NYSE Euronext, NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute) and the Society (Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals) submitted a joint petition to the SEC requesting the SEC to reduce the time frame under which investors are required to report their holdings from 45 business days after the end of the quarter to two business days after […]
Audio Friday – TheCorporateCounsel.net: Ginny Fogg on Shareholder Proposal Process
James McRitchie, 02/15/2013 ,
Note: Members Only – TheCorporateCounsel.net always produces top quality content but I thought the recent post Inside Track with Broc: Ginny Fogg on Shareholder Proposal Processes (2/8/13) was especially informative regarding how at least one company deals with shareowner proposals. As Broc Romanek points out, Fogg discusses: What is your shareholder proposal intake process (eg. who […]
CalSTRS Furthers ShareOwner Revolution With Announcement of Disney Vote
James McRitchie, 02/14/2013 ,
CalSTRS announced its vote at the March 6, 2013, Walt Disney Company annual shareholder meeting. CalSTRS voted against several directors and management proposals, and voted for shareholder proposals to allow proxy access and separate the CEO and chairman positions. What is significant about the announcement is that it went over each director candidate and issue on […]
Corporate Directors Forum – Day 2
James McRitchie, 02/14/2013 ,
This is the last in my series on the Corporate Directors Forum 2013. See materials, slideshow, Corporate Directors Forum 2013: Bonus Session, and Corporate Directors Forum 2013 – Day 1, Part 1, and Corporate Directors Forum: Day 1, Part 2. The program was subject to the Chatham House Rule, so there will be little in the way of attribution below but I hope to provide […]
Corporate Directors Forum: Day 1, Part 2
James McRitchie, 02/13/2013 ,
Below are some relatively quick notes I took at the Corporate Directors Forum 2013, held on the beautiful campus of the University of San Diego, January 27-29, 2013. See materials, Corporate Directors Forum 2013: Bonus Session, and Corporate Directors Forum 2013 – Day 1, Part 1. The program was subject to the Chatham House Rule, so there will be little in […]
Biased Ballots: Oshkosh Vote Questioned – Take Action
James McRitchie, 02/12/2013 ,
I found another case of corporate elections where ballot measures failed to be identified “clearly and impartially.” This time at Oshkosh ($OSK). Should we be surprised? Isn’t it time you took a minute out of your day to send a message to the SEC asking for an end to such abuses? Broadridge claims: When it comes to […]
Corporate Directors Forum 2013 – Day 1, Part 1
James McRitchie, 02/11/2013 ,
Below are some relatively quick notes I took at the Corporate Directors Forum 2013, held on the beautiful campus of the University of San Diego, January 27-29, 2013. See materials. The program was subject to the Chatham House Rule, so there will be little in the way of attribution below but I hope to provide some sense of the […]
Firms in Emerging Economies Can Counter Country-Based Deficiencies
James McRitchie, 02/09/2013 ,
Governance scholars debate the relative importance of country characteristics and firm characteristics in understanding variations in corporate governance practices of firms in emerging economies. One of the main questions is whether weak or incomplete public institutions dictate the governance quality of firms located in these countries. Results of analysis in this paper provide evidence that […]
Will Dell Shareowners Get Fair Value?
James McRitchie, 02/08/2013 ,
(Reuters/PRNewswire) Southeastern Asset Management, Inc. the largest outside shareholder of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: $DELL), today announced that it has sent a letter to the Board of Directors of Dell noting that it believes Dell’s proposed go-private transaction grossly undervalues the Company, and will not vote in favor of the transaction as currently structured. Southeastern intends […]
TD Ameritrade: How I Voted – Proxy Score 0%
James McRitchie, 02/08/2013 ,
TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. ($AMTD) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/13/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of only two funds when I voted on 2/7/2012. I voted with management 0% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank will be […]
Corporate Directors Forum 2013: Bonus Session
James McRitchie, 02/07/2013 ,
Below are some relatively quick notes I took at the Corporate Directors Forum 2013, Bonus Session, held on the beautiful campus of the University of San Diego, January 27, 2013. For a list of conference materials, see the Forum’s official site. My site, Corporate Governance (CorpGov.net) is unaffiliated. The program was subject to the Chatham House Rule, so […]
CSPI: How I Voted – Proxy Score 0%
James McRitchie, 02/06/2013 ,
CSP Inc. (CSPI, $CSPI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/12/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had no advice for me, since the company is so small. I voted with management 0% of the time. View Proxy, Proxy Supplement, Solicitation by North & Webster Value Opportunities Fund, LP, Letter from North & Webster, and Response. See more at […]
ICCR Offers Guide and Tweets #ProxyVoteForPlanet
James McRitchie, 02/05/2013 ,
Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) released their 2013 Proxy Resolutions and Voting Guide including all member-sponsored shareholder proposals for the upcoming proxy season. ICCR members are calling on asset owners to help promote corporate responsibility by voting their proxies in support of investor proposals that advance social, economic and environmental justice. (more…)
Investors Press for Disclosure of Political Spending: Please Vote for Resolutions
James McRitchie, 02/01/2013 ,
Last week, investors announced filing shareholder resolutions at more than 50 corporations as part of a 2013 proxy season initiative asking companies to annually report their federal and state lobbying, including any payments to trade associations used for lobbying as well as support for tax-exempt organizations that write and endorse model legislation. Take Action: In his […]
Video Friday: Compensation Debate
James McRitchie, 02/01/2013 ,
On Friday, January 18th, The Conference Board Governance Center hosted a debate on Executive Compensation and the Utility of Peer Groups in collaboration with the University of Delaware’s John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance. Latham & Watkins provided the venue for the program. (more…)