A proposal seeking protections for LGBT employees at The CATO Corporation (CATO), a women’s clothing retailer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, will not appear on the corporate proxy thanks to what I believe are misleading statements from the company and acquiescence from SEC staff. Sometimes a no-action win can end up as a loss for […]
Trump’s clean power roll back could lead to millions of deaths around the world if the US abrogates its leadership and all such efforts to address climate change. Investors, businesses and scientists express their dismay. The executive order drew a rebuke from the European Union. “Now, it remains to be seen by which other means the […]
McDonald’s shareholders will vote on a proposal to give franchisees a seat on its corporate board of directors at their annual meeting in May. See ‘McD’s must let investors vote on proposal to give franchisees a board seat.’ (Crain’s) Could similar, more inclusive, proposals use preferred shares to create new forms of stakeholder democracy? A report at […]
The Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) released its biennial Global Sustainable Investment Review 2016, showing that global sustainable investment assets reached $22.89 trillion at the start of 2016, a 25% increase from 2014. Sustainable investment encompasses the following activities and strategies: Negative/exclusionary screening, Positive/best-in-class screening, Norms-based screening, Integration of ESG factors, Sustainability themed investing, Impact/community investing, and […]
#WeAreTwitter Record Date Approximately March 30, 2017 Thousands have been part of a #WeAreTwitter, #BuyTwitter, #platformcoop campaign to ensure Twitter remains and advances as “the people’s news network.” At the annual meeting in May, Twitter shareholders will get to vote on a proposal to study different corporate governance structures to give greater voice to Twitter […]
Ron O’Hanley, President and CEO of State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), was recently hosted at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. According to the Weinberg Center, SSGA is a recognized leader in corporate governance. Ron O’Hanley gave an inspiring talk as part of the Center’s 2017 Corporate Governance Symposium. Mr. […]
Companies, and in particular boards, can no longer rely on ad hoc interaction with proxy advisory firms to “check the box” on stockholder engagement on governance issues. This SVDX/Rock Center panel addressed the evolving landscape of stockholder communications in light of increased profiles of institutional governance departments. What are best practices for board and company engagement […]
Directors Forum 2017 met in San Diego just 2 days into the Trump Administration. It was anyone’s guess what would happen to Dodd Frank, regulations, tax code, healthcare, etc. We heard from political affairs experts. Closing in on three months later, you be the judge. They had good insights but there is much to come. This is Part […]
Starbucks Corporation (NASD: SBUX), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a roaster, marketer, and retailer of specialty coffee worldwide. SBUX is one of the stocks in my portfolio. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four fund families when I checked and voted. Their annual meeting is coming up on March 22, 2017 I voted FOR Proxy Access Amendments. See how […]
Walden Moves BlackRock: Background A number of investors, led by Walden moves BlackRock on climate Risk. Walden Asset Management and the Center for Community Change, along with the City of Seattle Employees’ Retirement System and First Affirmative Financial Network, filed a shareholder resolution requesting a review of BlackRock’s proxy voting process and record on climate […]
Are we paying CEOs too much? Is the Pope Catholic? (That’s my own bad joke, not from the panelists.) Executive compensation is front and center on the minds of shareholders, regulators—and politicians. What IS pay? What IS performance? What are the right time frames for measuring performance? And what to do about the perception that […]
International Women’s Day and Corporate Governance. Progress on gender diversity in boardrooms and executive suites is slow in North America and many other parts of the world. Ahead of today’s International Women’s Day (March 8) SHARE and SSGA have taken dramatic action. The Women Corporate Directors Foundation can also take credit on this International Women’s Day.Where […]
Even in Washington, the numbers are impressive. The Council of Institutional Investors, who met in Washington DC this week, represents 23 trillion (with a t) dollars, mostly made up of retirement and other savings of working families. Compare that to the entire budget of the US government, less than two trillion a year. Like most […]
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), together with its subsidiaries, operates as an entertainment company worldwide. The Walt Disney Company is one of the stocks in my portfolio. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three fund families when I checked and voted. Their annual meeting is coming up on March 8, 2017. I voted FOR Proxy Access Amendments. See […]