Market Basket demonstrations and boycotts have Robert Reich wondering, are we seeing The Rebirth of Stakeholder Capitalism? In recent weeks, the managers, employees, and customers of a New England chain of supermarkets called “Market Basket” have joined together to oppose the board of director’s decision earlier in the year to oust the chain’s popular chief executive, […]
In February, I reported that prospects were looking up at nano-cap CSP, Inc. (CSPI), one of the companies in my portfolio. See CSP Inc. (CSPI): How I Voted – Proxy Score 100. CSPI completed a number of reforms, including declassifying the Board. In addition, CSPI started paying a dividend and adopted a mandatory retirement age of 75 for […]
Annies Inc $BNNY, which produces, markets, and distributes natural and fantastic organic food products, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. I bought into the company not only because of their products but also because Annies has more women executives and directors than most. I am hoping that helps them connect with their customers. Unfortunately, they apparently have […]
With John Chevedden‘s help, I recently submitted shareowner proposals to United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) and The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (HAIN). Both have asked the SEC for no-action letters [UNFI (UNFI no-action 8-15-2014 pdf) and HAIN] because they plan to introduce their own proposals on the same subjects. The SEC is likely to grant both requests. Shouldn’t such actions […]
Corporate Governance Publisher’s Note: Yes, you’ll find many broken links in the material referenced below. After 5, 10 and 15 years, the internet moves on. Many of the organization’s linked have since gone under. We’re just glad to still be here, offering our readers a sense of the history we have shared. More about the WABAC machine. […]
Most people don’t like their behavior criticized. CEOs and boards almost always fight my proxy proposals aimed at improving corporate governance. I wasn’t happy with the Deal Professor’s criticisms of my shareowner activism in his August 19th NYTimes article, Grappling With the Cost of Corporate Gadflies. He also criticizes John Chevedden and William Steiner. I stewed for days […]
I’ve previously written two posts on California’s Savings Plus program and how one major contractor, Northern Trust has voted. (Part I & Part II) Below, I compare the votes of Northern Trust on proxy proposals with those recommended by the AFL-CIO. A similar exercise could be performed at any deferred compensation plan. Shareholders have voting rights, […]
Medtronic $MDT, which manufactures and sells device-based medical therapies worldwide, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their next annual meeting is August 21, 2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked and voted on 8/17/2014. I voted with the Board’s recommendations 59% of the time and assigned them a proxy score of 59. View Proxy Statement. Read Warnings below. […]
Please attend the upcoming CalPERS Candidate Forum. Sorry, I haven’t been keeping this site up but have concentrated on Corporate Governance. However, another election cycle is coming up at CalPERS. State and local government employees will each elect a candidate. Retirees can’t vote for any of the candidates running in the current election cycle. However, […]
Financial literacy is the topic of discussion. I’m not sure these are the best terms to use but in the following video Eric Johnson does make some interesting observations. (more…)
This is the second of a two part series. Part I discussed proxy voting at Savings Plus, as compared with at CalPERS. CalHR’s Current RFP for Savings Plus CalHR recently released a Request for Proposal (RFP 700-14-01) seeking bids for investment management services for Savings Plus. Unfortunately, the RFP fails to require Savings Plus participants be informed […]
Most California State employees and retirees have their retirement funds invested largely through two vehicles. CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension, with almost $300B in assets. Many employees also have smaller amounts invested in CalHR‘s Savings Plus program, with assets of $10B. Both vehicles invest a large proportion of their funds in corporate stock, […]
Guest Proxy Season Review: Paul Marsland is a regular panelist and contributor to publications on corporate governance issues and has served in a number of senior roles at PIRC Ltd the UK based corporate governance consultancy most recently as Head of Policy. Time to take stock of the proxy season. The proxy season means February in […]
According to a recent press release, 13D Activist Fund (DDDIX), an event-driven mutual fund focused on 13D filings, was named “Category King” by the Wall Street Journal for the one year period ending July 31, 2014. The Category King recognizes the top 10 performing funds in each equity category for one-year performance, based on total returns. The […]
The Associate of Chartered Institute of Secretaries (ACIS) and the University of Ulster offer this course involving leading to an MSc Management and Corporate Governance through a face-to-face program to help you achieve a demanding professional and academic qualifications. Students work towards an academic qualification and Graduate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators […]
Lowell Milken Institute Law Teaching Fellowship applications are now being accepted by the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law. The Lowell Milken Institute Law Teaching Fellowship is a full-time, year-round, one or two academic-year position (approximately July 2015 through June 2016 or June 2017). (more…)
In this guest post, first published by Business and Leadership on July 28, Niamh Brennan of the University College Dublin (UCD) explains what the term corporate governance means. I’ve added a few links to her original. We have a host of other definitions for corporate governance in our Library but I like Professor Brennan’s reference to […]
The State Board of Administration of Florida (Florida SBA) is the fourth largest public pension fund in the US and was early to announce their votes in advance of annual meetings. Those announcements can be found on the Florida SBA site, as well as on Proxy Democracy. The following is from a press release that Florida […]
Handbook of Organizational and Managerial Innovation (Elgar Original Reference) edited by Tyrone S. Pitsis, Ace Simpson, and Erland Dehlin. Innovation is never free of its social context, its resistors, enablers, recalcitrants, champions and the like. Indeed, innovation can be thought of as the very stuff of social relations, as in the case of Hannah Arendt’s (1958) idea of innovation […]
Laura Flanders interviews Christopher Mackin, the founder of Ownership Associates, an advisory firm for broad-based employee ownership based in Cambridge, MA. Mackin is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations and a member of the core faculty of the Harvard Trade Union Program based at Harvard Law School. See a previous guest post by Mackin on […]