Yes, The Twelve Days of CalPERS by Yves Smith at naked capitalism is very witty, but it plays into the hands of those who would like to see public pensions dismantled. I like some of the work Yves Smith has have been reporting on CalPERS, which obviously needs not only watching but needs to be constantly reminded of its […]
Archive | December, 2015
A Response to Yves Smith on CalPERS
Reeds Delivered a Corrected Proxy for Christmas
There it was under my tree, Reeds delivered a corrected proxy for Christmas! Santa has finally been good to Reeds (REED) shareholders. I’m tacking notification of the corrected proxy as a sign that Founder/CEO, Christopher Reed might be at the start of a new attitude toward SEC rules and corporate governance, I changed my vote. […]
Apple Adopts Proxy Access Lite
As reported by the Wall Street Journal (Apple Offers Proxy Access) and the Financial Times (Campaigners hail Apple shareholder move), Apple adopts proxy access. Yes, that’s progress, but we shouldn’t be gushing in praise over proxy access lite. See Apple bylaws, pages 18-26, 5.15 Proxy Access for Director Nominations. Compare with the Council of Institutional Investors’ (CII) Best Practices. […]
CalPERS Discloses Proxy Votes in Advance of Meetings
Investors and the public interested in how the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) casts its proxy votes on key decisions in corporate America can now find that information on the CalPERS website. CalPERS Discloses Proxy Votes CalPERS has expanded its online disclosure of proxy voting decisions to include those for all publicly held companies […]
Independent Research in Responsible Investment
WeConvene Extel and SRI‐CONNECT announced the results of the Independent Research in Responsible Investment Survey 2015; “the most authoritative global survey evaluating how asset managers rate the services of independent providers of sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) & corporate governance (CG) research.” Award winner from the major categories were: (more…)
Reeds – REED: Reject the Board
2nd update, 12/20/2015: Unpack your bags, cancel your flight and hotel. Reeds Inc. (REED) has postponed tomorrow’s annual meeting to 12/30/2015. Although the move may be costly to shareowners and our company, it may pay dividends in the long-run if REED finally starts paying more attention to shareowners, corporate governance and their legal obligations. REED made […]
GPW Names James McRitchie Among Stars of 2015
GPW – Global Proxy Watch “recognizes 10 people around the world who have had the most impact on corporate governance” each year. Since I found myself on this year’s list, I’m reproducing it below, so that I have a record of this honor. (more…)
Reeds Renominates Zombie Director Muffoletto
A majority of shares voted to turn them out of office, off the island, you’re fired… but unaccountable boards frequently reappoint a zombie director. Reeds Inc. (REED) flaunts the will of shareholders in renominating Daniel S.J. Muffoletto. According to the Council of Institutional Investors: The vast majority of zombies are legally elected due to an […]
Marrone Bio Innovations (MBII): How I Voted – Proxy Score 33
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. $MBII provides bio-based pest management and plant health products for the agriculture, turf, and ornamental and water treatment markets in the United States and internationally. Marrone Bio is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is on December 17, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of one fund when I checked. I voted with […]
United Natural Foods (UNFI): How I Voted – Proxy Score 42
United Natural Foods, Inc. $UNFI, together with its subsidiaries, distributes and retails natural, organic, and specialty foods and non-food products in the United States and Canada. United Natural Foods is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is on December 16, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked. I voted with the Board’s recommendations […]
Deep Dive on Water Risks & iiWisdom
Water risks and and an Internet program from iiWisdom are the subjects of my last notes and photos from attending the Council of Institutional Investors Fall 2015 Conference in Boston. The Deep Dive on Water Risks was hosted by Ceres. The interactive Internet program from iiWisdom looks to be very handy for finding information contained in corporate proxies. Feel free […]
Robert Bradway, Chair & CEO Amgen
More of my notes and photos from attending the Council of Institutional Investors Fall 2015 Conference in Boston… this from the keynote speech by Robert Bradway of Amgen. Feel free to post corrections, counterpoints and additional relevant material on his speech or Amgen, using the site’s comment feature. Find more posts from the conference on this site or Twitter […]
Activist Hedge Funds Policing Wall Street
This is one of a many part series from the Council of Institutional Investors Fall 2015 Conference in Boston. This part of the program dealt with hedge funds and policing Wall Street. Sorry for the delay in posting but other tasks keep intervening. Keep in mind, I generally am not quoting speakers. Instead, I’m providing my […]
CIO Perspectives: Capital at Risk
Here are more of my notes and photos from the Council of Institutional Investors Fall 2015 Conference in Boston. I added the subtitle to the name of this session, which mostly explored managing risk in low-return environment but touched on many additional topics. Feel free to post corrections, counterpoints and additional relevant material on topic, using […]
Medtronic PLC: How I Voted – Proxy Score 44
Medtronic PLC ($MDT) manufactures and sells device-based medical therapies worldwide. Medtronic is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is on December 11, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked. I voted with the Board’s recommendations 44% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Read Warnings below. What follows are my recommendations on how to vote the proxy […]
WD-40 Company (WDFC): How I Voted – Proxy Score 100
WDFC develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products. WDFC is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is on December 8, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the vote of one fund when I checked. I voted with the Board’s recommendations 100% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Read Warnings below. What follows are my recommendations on how to vote the proxy in […]
Why I’m voting WITHHOLD on Fission Uranium (FCU)
“Using the internet for shareowner proxy voting … will awaken the sleeping giant of corporate governance – individual investors.” My optimism was premature when I wrote that in 1999. But finally the giant has awakened and is starting to stir. Retail shareowners of Fission Uranium Corp (FCU) have joined forces via internet media, including their […]
Gordon Gekko and Governing Small-Caps: Greed Works
Few who have seen it can forget the iconic scene from the movie Wall Street when Michael Douglas’s character Gordon Gekko stands up, microphone in hand, at Teldar Paper’s shareholder meeting and says: “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works.” Cinematic […]
Investing for the Long-Term: #CIIFall2015
This was an interesting session from the Council of Institutional Investors Fall 2015 Conference in Boston. Please feel free to post corrections, counterpoints and additional relevant material on topic of Investing for the Long-Term, using the site’s comment feature. Find more posts from the conference on this site or Twitter by searching #CIIFall2015. Investing for the Long-Term Mark […]