Now that proxy season is finally winding down, I had a few minutes to take a quick glance at recent research on corporate governance and shareholders reported on SSRN. This is part 2 of 3. (Part 1) Below I am simply including a few citations and abstracts of studies useful to shareholder advocates in the US. I […]
Now that proxy season is finally winding down, I had a few minutes to take a quick glance at recent research reported on SSRN. Below I am simply including a few citations and abstracts of studies that might be useful for shareholder advocates in the U.S. I’m sure I included some that are strictly academic […]
Last year it was a judge telling me he didn’t think I should have the right to submit a proxy proposal even though I owned 3-4 times the required threshold. Generally, I take the hassles of being a shareowner advocate with a grain of salt. I’m able to ignore it and forget it but here’s […]
The Deal Professor, Steven Davidoff Solomon, recently discussed voting rules aimed at fostering “long-termism” in his post, France Answers Hostile Bids With the Two-Vote Share. While less damaging than dual-class shares issued at the IPO stage that continue ad infinitum, importing such a scheme to the United States would reinforce the behavior of idiots. (more…)
Watch Dr. Richard Leblanc talk about Proxy Access for boards and how it could be a corporate governance game-changer. CCGC has endorsed proxy access. Dr. Richard LeBlanc discusses democracy in corporate governance. Proxy access is the corporate governance game changer. Business organizations have pushed back but some companies have voluntarily adopted it. “This is the […]
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), one of the stocks in my portfolio, is engaged in providing Internet search, communication and digital content. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/24/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of three funds when I checked and voted on 6/15/2015. I voted with the board 46% of the time and assigned YHOO a proxy score of 46. […]
The Habit Restaurants, Inc. (HABT), one of the stocks in my portfolio, operates fast casual restaurants under The Habit Burger Grill name in California, Arizona, Utah, and New Jersey, offers charbroiled hamburgers, specialty sandwiches, fresh salads, and shakes and malts. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/23/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one fund when I checked […]
Florida SBA recently completed a study of the impact of its proxy voting in proxy contests. See Valuing the Vote: The Impact of Proxy Voting on SBA Portfolio Holdings. I’d love to see more such analysis at other funds. (more…)
Premiere Global Services, Inc. (NYSE:PGI), one of the stocks in my portfolio, offers virtual meeting solutions. Its cloud-based solutions provides multi-point, real-time virtual collaboration using video, voice, mobile, web streaming and file sharing technologies. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/17/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one fund when I checked and voted on 6/14/2015. I also […]
Ellie Mae Inc (NYSE:ELLI), one of the stocks in my portfolio, is a provider of on-demand software solutions and services for the residential mortgage industry in the United States. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/17/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one fund when I checked and voted on 6/11/2015. I also located the vote of CalSTRS. I […]
DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc (NYSE:DVA), one of the stocks in my portfolio, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies to treat serious diseases for which there are limited treatment options. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/16/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of two funds when I checked and voted on 6/11/2015. I voted with […]
The passing US proxy season made lots of business headlines as the most turbulent ever (which I’ve found happens every year). But 2015 was still notable for the flood of activist initiatives targeting company boards of directors. Activists sought “no” votes on directors who set executive pay, or said no to stock buyback, dividend, or […]
Medivation Inc (NASD:MDVN) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies to treat serious diseases for which there are limited treatment options.. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/16/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of two funds when I checked and voted on 6/9/2015. I voted with the […]
Genomic Health, Inc. (NASD:GHDX), one of the stocks in my portfolio, is a molecular diagnostics company focused on the global development and commercialization of genomic-based clinical laboratory services that analyze the underlying biology of cancer allowing physicians and patients to make individualized treatment decisions. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/11/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one […]
SciClone Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASD:SCLN) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their product portfolio of therapies includes oncology, infectious diseases and cardiovascular disorders.discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets therapies for the treatment of neurological, autoimmune, and hematologic disorders in the United States and internationally. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/11/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one […]
Facebook Inc (NASD:FB) operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/10/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of three fund families when I checked and voted on 6/8/2015. I added the votes of CalSTRS in the table below. Like ALL the pre-disclosing funds, I voted […]
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) operates as an online retailer in North America and internationally. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/10/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of four funds when I checked and voted on 6/3/2015. I voted with management 60% of the time and assigned Amazon a proxy score of 60. (more…)
Biogen Inc. (BIIB) discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets therapies for the treatment of neurological, autoimmune, and hematologic disorders in the United States and internationally. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/10/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of five funds (removed 2nd Calvert from table below, since it was duplicative) when I checked and voted […]
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/10/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of two funds when I checked and voted on 6/4/2015. As I was writing, CalSTRS also announced their […]
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), an Internet television network, engages in the Internet delivery of TV shows and movies directly on TVs, computers, and mobile devices in the United States and internationally. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/9/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of two funds when I checked and voted on 6/3/2015. […]
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) designs, builds, and sells cars, crossovers, trucks, and automobile parts worldwide. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/9/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of two funds when I checked and voted on 5/3/2015. I voted with management 62% of the time and assigned General Motors a proxy score […]
Bay Area workers and unions are increasingly joining the climate justice movement, but their pension funds have been quietly investing in the oil and natural gas boom. Deep in the heart of Texas, the oil industry is still going strong. Take Navitas Midstream, a private corporation that specializes in transporting fossil fuels. Navitas is currently […]
Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) designs, develops, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles, electric vehicle powertrain components, and stationary energy storage systems in the United States, China, Norway, and internationally. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/9/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one fund when I checked and voted on 6/2/2015. I voted […]
Kite Pharma Inc (NASD:KITE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on the development and commercialization of novel cancer immunotherapy products and is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/8/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one fund when I checked and voted on 6/1/2015. However, I also picked up the votes of CalSTRS. […]
Good corporate governance means quicker, more frequent disclosures to the stock market. Or does it? The evidence varies by country, and in our research we wanted to check the relationship. We used cross-country data from 23 OECD countries, firms with financial years ending between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2008. We looked at company […]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) operates retail stores in various formats worldwide and is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/5/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of one fund when I checked and voted on 5/31/2015. I voted with management 52% of the time and assigned Wal-Mart Stores Inc. a proxy score of 52. […]