CalPERS and CalSTRS sponsored the California Diversity Forum in Sacramento (“America’s Most Diverse City”) on Wednesday, May 12, 2017, bringing together investment and corporate executives to discuss how to better capitalize on the abilities of the diverse modern workforce. Diversity is both morally right and profitable. Narrowing the global gender gap would add $12 trillion in […]
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 […]
3D Moves to Equilar. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) today announced the Diverse Director DataSource (3D) will now be available through the Equilar Diversity Network. The new partnership marks an exciting milestone for the 3D, a database the two pension funds jointly developed in 2011. 3D […]
This the third part of my coverage of this year’s ICGN event in Boston. These posts haven’t been checked for accuracy and I haven’t taken the time to edit the prose to make complete well-flowing sentences. Still, I hope you find them of some value. Morning keynote on Differential Voting Rights: Corporate governance and investor protection in […]
On Thursday March 5th proxy advisor Glass Lewis held a conference call to discuss proxy access, i.e. the right for shareholders to place their director nominees on company proxies, instead of having to pay for a separate proxy and solicitation. The New York City Comptroller, Scott Stringer has taken the lead on proxy access this […]
Proxy Mosaic is beginning a series of dialogues. The first is entitled “Are Meaningful Shareholder Proposals a Thing of the Past?” (more…)
This is first time I’ve attended a Council of Institutional Investors (CII) semi-annual conference. My report from first day events can be found at CII Fall 2014 Conference: Part 1. Okay, I’m getting more cryptic in my second day of notes. Sorry, I’m not willing to take the time to clean them up. Watch out for possible […]
The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) announced the 2014 NACD Directorship 100, the annual list that recognizes leading corporate directors, corporate governance experts, policymakers, and influencers who significantly impact boardroom practices and performance. NACD has recognized individual directors who serve as role models in promoting exemplary board leadership, oversight, and courage in the boardroom for more than 37 years. […]
CalPERS Senior Portfolio Manager and Director of Global Governance, Anne Simpson, discusses how environmental, social, and governance behaviors impact corporate performance and highlights recent Board policy statements concerning three forms of capital: financial, physical and human. Read the transcript on the CalPERS site. (more…)
CalPERS filed a notice of exempt solicitation (PX14A6G) and urged shareholders to vote for a proposal asking the company to amend their bylaws to exclude broker non-votes when tabulating proxy votes at the 2014 AGM of Nabors Industries (NBR). I don’t personally own stock in NBR but the issue is an important one, so it […]
I joined for what was billed as a ‘fireside chat’ style presentation featuring Anne Simpson of CalPERS, Ralph Whitworth of Relational Investors, LLC, and Katherine Rabin of Glass, Lewis & Co., who will address the hot topics of this year’s proxy season. “Bring your burning questions and get the opinions of these experts.” (more…)
The Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the NACD Northern California Chapter hosted a conversation between Professor Joe Grundfest and dragon slayer Anne Simpson, Director of Corporate Governance at CalPERS, about how Apple and CalPERS ended up on the same side in a shareholder activism showdown. (more…)
Let’s just label these notes as “for entertainment purposes only.” Attending the conference was a real pleasure. Unfortunately, I was too busy catching up with people to take more than impressionistic notes at a few of the discussions. Prepare to be frightened about global climate change and our irresponsibly slow pace addressing the catastrophic consequences […]
Investment News reports that California CalPERS, the second biggest U.S. public pension fund, is weighing the idea of taking its massive $255 billion assets under management and moving to an all-passive portfolio. Should we care? Well, it would matter a lot for active managers who receive management fees from CalPERS, Josh Brown, who runs the popular financial […]
This is Part 2 of a post which started out reviewing the important thesis outlined in The Agency Costs of Agency Capitalism: Activist Investors and the Revaluation of Governance Rights by Ronald J. Gilson and Jeffrey N. Gordon (January 1, 2013). See Agency Capitalism: Corrective Measures Part 1 and Part 3. Current law encourages mindless indexing of portfolios and voting like lemmings […]
As the United States continues to rebuild its economy, the JOBS Act will impact businesses and financial markets. Legal practitioners, scholars, and students must be proficient in the legal and business aspects of the JOBS Act. This symposium will facilitate discussions of potent topics related to the future of securities transactions regulated under the JOBS […]
Below are some relatively quick notes I took at the Corporate Directors Forum 2013, held on the beautiful campus of the University of San Diego, January 27-29, 2013. See materials. The program was subject to the Chatham House Rule, so there will be little in the way of attribution below but I hope to provide some sense of the […]
CalPERS launched the Sustainable Investment Research Initiative (SIRI), in an effort to drive innovative thought leadership that will inform and advance the organization’s understanding of sustainability factors and the impact they have on financial performance. (more…)
Corporate governance leaders from both sides of the Sacramento River speak out on shareowner values. (more…)
On May 8, 2012, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s Silicon Valley office hosted a one day symposium on Weathering a Crisis for corporate leaders and general counsel. Panel discussions focused on how to effectively handle a crisis before it becomes public; how to navigate the media while preserving your company’s public image; and how to implement sound […]
CalPERS announced on Monday, April 2nd that Anne Simpson, who heads their corporate governance efforts, has been elected to the Board of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). (more…)
As Laura Berry mentioned at the conference, this is an event to recharge your batteries. It is great to learn what others are doing. Of course, the list of things I need to do grows exponentially every time I attend one of these gatherings of mostly California public pension funds. Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer: Nothing I […]
The second session, Can Investors Behave Long Term?, of the Yale Governance Forum 2011 was held “on the record.” In some respects, that makes it even more difficult to report. I’m not a quick note taker, so would welcome comments from any who attended the forum, especially panelists, concerning what transpired. As I recall, Keith Ambachtsheer, author of […]
Disclaimer: These are my notes from a conference of mostly California pension funds. I’m not a very quick note taker, so I have a tendency to fill in the “gaps” with relevant material from the Internet and with my own interpretation of what where I think the speaker was going. These notes are basically a small […]