Bristol-Myers Squibb $BMY is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/6/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 4/28/2014. I voted with management 43% of the time. View BMY’s Proxy Statement, which at least has a linked Table of Contents. (more…)
Archive | April, 2014
Good Reads in Corporate Governance Around Board Composition
James McRitchie, 04/29/2014 ,
The March/April edition of The Corporate Board contains several excellent articles. I e-mailed a couple of quotes from their ‘Spoken & Written’ section to a CEO who needs a real board, instead of a rubber stamp. (more…)
AFL-CIO Announces ‘Key Votes"
James McRitchie, 04/28/2014 ,
Shareholder Proposals: “FOR” votes are consistent with the AFL-CIO Proxy Voting Guidelines (more…)
Fluor Corporation (FLR): How I Voted – Proxy Score 13
James McRitchie, 04/28/2014 ,
Fluor Corporation $FLR is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/1/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 4/28/2014. I voted with management 13% of the time. View FLR’s Proxy Statement, which is user friendly. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any […]
Video Friday: What the 0.1% Don’t Want You to Know
James McRitchie, 04/25/2014 ,
From Moyers & Company The median pay for the top 100 highest-paid CEOs at America’s publicly traded companies was a handsome $13.9 million in 2013. That’s a 9 percent increase from the previous year, according to a new Equilar pay study for The New York Times. Will the rise of a new oligarchy mean the […]
Guest Post: Relieve the Pain of Voting Season
James McRitchie, 04/24/2014 ,
Mike Tyrrell is Editor of SRI-Connect – an online research marketplace for professional institutional investors, analysts & companies interested in sustainable development. He is keen to open up the site to corporate governance analysts & corporate governance research. I’ve heard so many complaints over the years about the work overload that occurs in ‘voting season’ and […]
Kansas City Southern (KSU): How I Voted – Proxy Score 100
James McRitchie, 04/24/2014 ,
Kansas City Southern $KSU, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/1/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 4/23/2014. I voted with management 100% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are […]
Talk is Cheap: The Board's Role in an Ethical Culture
James McRitchie, 04/23/2014 ,
As Advertised: Board resolve can be critical to the development of an effective ethical culture — defined as the values that inform the behavior toward the organization’s stakeholders. Features of an ethical culture will be examined, along with its value to the bottom line, company brand and reputation. Examples of effective board involvement will also […]
EMC Corporation (EMC): How I Voted – Proxy Score 13
James McRitchie, 04/23/2014 ,
EMC Corporation $EMC is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/30/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 4/22/2014. I voted with management 13% of the time. View EMC’s Proxy Statement, which is user friendly. (more…)
Many Boards Moving Ahead on Environmental and Social Issues
James McRitchie, 04/22/2014 ,
Corporate boards are exceeding legal oversight requirements on environmental and social issues, with more than half of S&P 500 companies providing board level oversight of environmental and/or social issues above and beyond that required by law. Board Oversight of Sustainability Issues finds that many industries subject to scrutiny – paper, forestry, healthcare, utility companies – are among the most […]
CtW Exempt Solicitation at Chipotle Mexican Grill
James McRitchie, 04/22/2014 ,
PX14A6G Filing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Washington, DC 20549 NOTICE OF EXEMPT SOLICITATION 1. Name of the Registrant: CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, INC. (more…)
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM): How I Voted – Proxy Score 75
James McRitchie, 04/22/2014 ,
International Business Machines Corp. $IBM, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/29/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 4/22/2014. I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank […]
Kellogg Company (K): How I Voted – Proxy Score 78
James McRitchie, 04/21/2014 ,
Kellogg Company $K, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/25/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked and voted on 4/21/2014. I voted with management 78% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted […]
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): How I Voted – Proxy Score 67
James McRitchie, 04/21/2014 ,
Johnson & Johnson $JNJ is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/24/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 4/18/2014. I voted with management 67% of the time. View Proxy Statement, which is user friendly. (more…)
NCR Corporation (NCR): How I Voted – Proxy Score 40
James McRitchie, 04/19/2014 ,
The NCR Corporations $NCR, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/23/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 4/18/2014. I voted with management 40% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Why no index with no links? That seems so basic. Perhaps NCR doesn’t want to make reading […]
Video Friday: Things Will Go Better at Coke With an Independent Chair
James McRitchie, 04/18/2014 ,
CorpGov.net publisher, James McRitchie presents proposal #5 for the 2014 annual meeting of shareowners, which requests the Board of The Coca-Cola Company move prospectively to an independent board chair. To see how I voted on the rest of the issues, click on The Coca-Cola Company (KO): How I Voted – Proxy Score 63 – Things Go […]
Contest: Foxhole of the Year Award
James McRitchie, 04/16/2014 ,
Announcing the second Foxhole of the Year Award for the company that makes it the most difficult for shareowners turn up at their annual meeting. Last year’s winner was Peabody Energy for their choice of Gillette, Wyoming, a town with less than 30,000 residents. Nominations are now being accepted for 2014. Yuanzhi Li and David Yermack studied the location […]
The Coca-Cola Company (KO): How I Voted – Proxy Score 63 – Things Go Better With a Split CEO/Chair
James McRitchie, 04/16/2014 ,
The Coca-Cola Company $KO, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/23/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 4/15/2014. I voted with management 63% of the time. View Proxy Statement, which by the way is very nice and user friendly. See 18 Cool Things about the proxy. Warning: […]
Citigroup Inc (C): How I Voted – Proxy Score 33
James McRitchie, 04/15/2014 ,
Citigroup Inc $C, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/22/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of no funds when I checked and voted on 4/15/2014. I voted with management 33% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Why an index with no links? That seems so basic. Perhaps Citi doesn’t want to make reading […]
Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO): How I Voted – Proxy Score 20
James McRitchie, 04/15/2014 ,
Bio-Rad Laboratories, $BIO, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/22/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of one fund when I checked and voted on 4/14/2014. I voted with management 20% of the time. View Proxy Statement. It is hard to believe but BIO not only doesn’t include a linked index, they don’t include an […]
Take Action: Quick Bites on Corporate Governance – Tell Me More
James McRitchie, 04/14/2014 ,
The BBC reports Activist Ralph Nader wants you to get paid. Apparently, our Take Action: Join Nader’s Penny Brigade didn’t take hold. BBC CAPITAL: This year, you’ve taken steps to get the Penny Brigade idea off the ground. You want 15 to 20 advocates for good company behaviour to provide setting-up costs for a watchdog foundation, right? You […]
Take Action: Nominations Accepted for 2014 NACD Directorship 100
James McRitchie, 04/12/2014 ,
The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is seeking nominations for the 2014 NACD Directorship Awards, including the NACD Lifetime Achievement Award, the NACD Director of the Year, and the NACD Directorship 100. (more…)
Video Friday: Join the Movement for Fair Equity Trading
James McRitchie, 04/11/2014 ,
IEX is the first equity trading venue owned exclusively by a consortium of buy-side investors, including mutual funds, hedge funds, and family offices. Dedicated to institutionalizing fairness in the markets, IEX will provide a more balanced marketplace via simplified market structure design and cutting-edge technology. IEX offers a fair-access platform to any qualified broker dealer. […]
Walden Seeks Review of Proxy Voting Policy at Oxy
James McRitchie, 04/10/2014 ,
The inveterate Timothy Smith, Director of Environmental Social and Governance Shareowner Engagement at Walden Asset Management recently wrote (download pdf) to Margaret (Peggy) Foran who chairs the Board Governance Committee at Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Oxy), asking them to review their vote counting bylaws and practices prior to their May 2nd AGM. (more…)
Take Action: Vote Proxy Access at Citigroup (C)
James McRitchie, 04/09/2014 ,
The deadline for voting online is April 21st. My proposal, #8 on Citi’s proxy (page 97), would bring proxy access (page 40) to our company by allowing shareowners to place board nominees on Citi’s proxy. Don’t be fooled by Citi’s opposition statement, which calls the ownership thresholds “low.” In reality, 1% of Citi is huge; about $1.4B. The […]
Guest Post: Stay Informed with Jurify’s Free Corporate Governance Database
James McRitchie, 04/08/2014 ,
Guest Post by Nicole Jasso Lopez, corporate lawyer and President at Jurify.com, discussing how Jurify presents corporate governance resources and keeps you up-to-date on developments. Jurify’s mission is to make sense of the law at a time when much information is free but navigating it is becoming increasingly difficult and time-consuming. And corporate governance is […]
SEC Seeks Comment on IAC Recommendation on Target Date Funds: IAC to Meet April 10th
James McRitchie, 04/07/2014 ,
The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking comment on a recommendation by its Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) regarding disclosure by target date mutual funds. Additionally, the IAC has announced an agenda for their next meeting on April 10th beginning at 10:00 a.m. (EST), which includes remarks from Commissioners, the new Investor Advocate and a recommendation from […]
Video Friday: GMI's Forensic Alpha Model
James McRitchie, 04/04/2014 ,
The SEC misses 85% of fraud. GMI’s model is designed to identify fraud in advance. I’d love to see funds using this system to modify their indexes. If many do so, it could be one of the biggest tools in improving corporate governance. (more…)
Guest Post: Meet… James McRitchie, CorpGov.Net
James McRitchie, 04/03/2014 ,
Mike Tyrrell is Editor of SRI-Connect – an online research marketplace for professional institutional investors, analysts & companies interested in sustainable development. He is keen to open up the site to corporate governance analysts & corporate governance research. Mike kindly gave permission to reproduce the interview on CorpGov.net. (more…)
Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD): How I Voted – Proxy Score 92
James McRitchie, 04/02/2014 ,
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. $BRCD, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/8/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org was down when I checked and voted on 4/2/2014. I voted with management 92% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
SEC Commissioner Wants to Muzzle Shareowners
James McRitchie, 04/01/2014 ,
In a speech to the 26th Annual Corporate Law Institute held at Tulane University Law School on Federal Preemption of State Corporate Governance, SEC commissioner Daniel Gallagher delivered a scathing attack on small investors and proposed radical steps to severely limit democracy in corporate governance. Gallagher opened his attack by stating, Activist investors and corporate gadflies have used […]