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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
I don’t think we’ve gone back in time all year… too busy with proxy season. Join us as Mr. Peabody and Sherman prepare to go back in time to visit corpgov.net 5, 10 and 15 years ago. Yes, many links are broken. The world and the internet move on… still, it is worth a few […]
In response to proxy access proposals filed this year, both Whole Foods Market (WFM) and H&R Block (HRB) have adopted proxy access. While I had filed standard proposals seeking the ability of shareholders with 3% of shares held for 3 years to be able to nominate up to 25% of the board, both companies adopted […]
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 […]
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 […]
Update: Preliminary voting results indicate that our proxy access proposal got 39% of the vote. Yes, the proposal could have been worded to more closely conform to the Rule 14a-11 standards. Hopefully, Apple got the message and will propose a “best practices” revision of their articles and bylaws as needed for the 2016 annual meeting. […]
Engagement is, or should be, the common theme of our three videos. CalPERS argues it gives them a seat at the table. Professor Damodaran extols the importance of engagement as a possibility. As a shareholder, what avenues are open? In Davos, I think they looked through the wrong lens. Instead of engagement, they focused on an […]
In his 1914 collection of essays called Other People’s Money and How the Bankers Use It, Louis Brandeis argued that powerful men such as J.P. Morgan leveraged unbalanced control of the public’s assets to their own benefit. One hundred years later, not much has changed. If Brandeis were alive today, you can be sure that he […]
On January 12, 2015, Stanford’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance hosted a panel discussion called “The Rise of Controlled Corporations.” Unfortunately, this is one program at the Rock Center that I missed. With Alibaba’s recent IPO on NYSE (instead of Hong Kong or China), the “one-share, one-vote” corporate governance standard has once again been challenged. […]
The Norges Bank Investment Management (Norges), the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, will publish its voting intentions prior to annual general stockholder meetings (AGMs) when it believes such action can help illustrate an important principle. (Norwegian oil fund to disclose voting intentions to illustrate ‘principle’) (more…)
In a global first, a group of institutional asset owners and managers are jointly calling for comprehensive transparency and disclosure to be adopted as core principles in reform of the international taxation system to be put before the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane this weekend. The group including the £150B UK Local Authority Pension Fund […]
Public dissent by directors should be encouraged, not penalized. If we don’t learn where directors stand on the issues and how they differ from each other, how do we know who to vote for? Two actions by CalPERS fifteen years apart are instructive. (more…)
Charles P. “Chuck” Valdes and I first met when he was the President of the California State Employees Association (CSEA) in 1979 or the early 1980s. California state employees had just won collective bargaining rights. I was advocating that CSEA affiliate with SEIU to increase solidarity between state and private employees. I was struck by […]
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 […]
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. […]
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, […]
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, […]
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, […]
Proxy Insight, a brand new service providing the most comprehensive information on the actual voting behaviour of key global shareholders, is currently recruiting for a number of positions as outlined below. If you are interested in applying please send your CV and covering letter to careers@proxyinsight.com: (more…)
It is good to see former CalPERS CEO Federico R. Buenrostro finally pleading guilty, with “sources” telling Pensions & Investments that “his admissions could result in expanded criminal charges for his codefendant… Alfred Villalobos,” as well as possible “indictments against two former CalPERS board members, Kurato Shimada and Charles Valdes.” (Guilty plea opens new chapter […]
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 […]
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 […]
Yesterday, I posted a recent letter to the editor of Pensions & Investments praising their editorial, Winning Over Proxy Voters, which argues that institutional investors have a fiduciary duty to announce their proxy votes in advance of annual meetings, if doing so is likely to influence voters. If institutional investors heed their call, it will speed […]
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 today announced that the System’s shareowner proposal at Nabors Industries $NBR recommending that the company change its proxy voting methodologies passed with the support of a majority of shares voted. CalPERS sought the changes to ensure equality and fairness in the manner in which Nabors counts votes cast on proxy proposals at its annual […]
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) is conducting two elections this fall for the State and public agency representative seats on the CalPERS Board of Administration. Current terms for both positions end in January 2015. The election for the school board member representative seat will not be conducted because the incumbent, Rob Feckner, was unopposed. George […]
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 […]
After the death of straight shooter Joe Dear (Joseph A. Dear: June 7, 1951 to February 26, 2014), the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has launched a search. Big shoes to fill. They seek an experienced investment professional for the role of Chief Investment Officer (CIO) to lead and manage its 400-plus person Investment […]
The BBC reports Activist Ralph Nader wants you to get paid. Apparently, our Take Action: Join Nader’s Penny Brigade didn’t take hold. BBC CAPITAL: This year, you’ve taken steps to get the Penny Brigade idea off the ground. You want 15 to 20 advocates for good company behaviour to provide setting-up costs for a watchdog foundation, right? You […]
Apple Inc. (NASD:AAPL) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/28/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org was down for maintenance when I checked and voted on 2/19/2014, so no voting advice there. I checked a few other sources such as CalPERS, Florida SBA and OTPP but none had disclosed their votes on their sites as of yesterday. I voted […]
Testimony of James McRitchie Finance & Administration Committee, Agenda Item 6b, February 18, 2014 (Staff Report) As the Harold Stassen of CalPERS, having run for the Board more times unsuccessfully than anyone else, I have some experience with the governing rules and favor the actions recommended by staff but with additional improvements to recommendation 2, CEO […]