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, […]
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 […]
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…)
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 […]
Below is an email I sent to Pensions & Investments (P&I) editorial chief Barry Burr praising their editorial enhancing fiduciary duty and opining on how it may speed the arrival of the time when retail investors will vote their values with the simple push of a button or two on their cell phones. I will follow […]
Just a brief post to thank shareowners at Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) for sending a strong message to the company’s board and management. 77% of shares were voted against the executive pay package and a majority supported our proposal to end supermajority voting requirements. CalSTRS, Florida SBA, AFSCME, Calvert, Domini, Trillium, CBIS, CtW and many […]
California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Chief Executive Officer Jack Ehnes issued the following statement on the Legislature’s announcement of a plan to move forward with legislation, to be amended in Assembly Bill 611, to close the $71 billion CalSTRS funding shortfall: (more…)
Some have argued that Ralph Nader started socially responsible shareholder activism with Campaign GM, when the group filed shareholder proposals to expand GM’s board to include consumer advocates and empower shareholders to place their board nominees on GM’s proxy ballot (proxy access). According to a recent article in the WSJ, the longtime consumer advocate is now putting […]
Guest post from Josh Black, Financial Journalist for Activist Insight Ltd., which “aims to provide the most comprehensive global information source on activist investment.” Traditional activists were essentially value investors, but that profile might be changing. Carl Icahn has long championed the interests of shareholders. Yet even many who had watched him for years were surprised by […]
Sorry to be late and abbreviated in getting out my coverage of this great forum. Be sure to check out the Forum’s photo gallery, which contains many more and much better shots than what I took between notes and conversations. The second panel discussed the growing issue of dual-class stock structures. While there was considerable […]
Stratasys Ltd $SSYS is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/21/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/18/2013. I voted with management 90% of the time. View Proxy Statement. I’m busy on vacation, so have no time to analyze my proxy. Instead, I’m simply trusting that CalSTRS […]
Netflix, Inc. ($NFLX) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/7/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of one fund when I checked on 5/25/2013. I voted with management only 10% of the time. View Proxy Statement. NFLX is another supposedly high-tech company with no hyperlinks in their proxy statement. In fact, they don’t even include […]
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/4/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/23/2013. I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in […]
Tesla Motors (TSLA) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/4/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/26/2013. I voted with management 33% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor […]
Ellie Mae Inc (ELLI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/29/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of one fund when I checked on 5/19/2013. I voted with management 40% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor […]
American Tower Corp ($AMT) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/21/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/13/2013. I voted with management 100% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor […]
3D Systems Corporation ($DDD) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/21/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/13/2013. I voted with management 90% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor […]
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 […]
ITC Holdings Corp. ($ITC) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/15/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/9/2013. I voted with management 50% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor […]
Marriott International Inc ($MAR) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/10/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/3/2013. I voted with management 93% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor […]
Shareholders are demanding more from managements and boards – not just as overseers, but in an effort to increase the value of the enterprise. Amid the backdrop of record-low interest rates, pent-up M&A demand and stacks of cash on corporate balance sheets, these activists are being backed by new capital. In addition, more companies are […]
MSCI ($MSCI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/1/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of only one fund when I checked on 4/25/2013, so I also took a quick look at OTPP’s vote. I voted with management 100% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. […]
Kimberly Clark ($KMB) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/2/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I checked on 4/26/2013. I voted with management 64% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of […]
Canadian National Railway ($CNI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/23/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 4/21/2013. I voted with management 13% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank will be voted […]
The California Constitution provides that the Legislature may, by statute, prohibit retirement board investments if in the public interest and providing the prohibition satisfies specified fiduciary standards. Current law prohibits the boards of CalPERS and CalSTRS from investing public employee retirement funds in a company with active business operations in Sudan and Iran, as specified. AB […]
In light of the IPOs and subsequent performances of Facebook, Groupon, Zynga, etc., there has been renewed discussion in Silicon Valley. When two classes of common stock that place control of the board in the hands of the founders and not the investors, do investors benefit or does it just entrench management? One argument in […]
Yesterday, CalSTRS issued the following statement regarding its votes at the Walt Disney Company Annual Shareholder Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. This statement is attributable to CalSTRS Director of Corporate Governance, Anne Sheehan. CalSTRS, holder of more than five million shares of The Walt Disney Company stock, congratulates Disney on its most recent stock performance under […]
The Walt Disney Company ($DIS) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/06/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked on 2/26/2012. I added CalSTRS below, which announced their votes earlier. I voted with management 17% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote […]
CalSTRS announced its vote at the March 6, 2013, Walt Disney Company annual shareholder meeting. CalSTRS voted against several directors and management proposals, and voted for shareholder proposals to allow proxy access and separate the CEO and chairman positions. What is significant about the announcement is that it went over each director candidate and issue on […]
Costco ($COST) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 1/24/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I voted on 1/22/2012. I voted with management only 25% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank will be voted in […]
Walgreens ($WAG) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 1/9/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I voted on 1/1/2012. I voted with management only 24% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank will be voted in […]
The influential proxy analyst, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), recommends voting against Kenneth Steiner’s proxy access proposal at H&R Block (HRB) on 9/13 because it “could undermine the efforts of larger, long-term shareholders whose interests might better reflect those of the broader shareholder base.” Their logic appears flawed. Larger, longer-term shareowners would gain rights, not lose them, […]
H&R Block ($HRB) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 9/13/2012. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I voted on 9/5/2012. I voted with management 40% of the time but in complete alignment with CalSTRS. I generally vote against pay packages where NEOs were paid above median in […]
Corporate governance leaders from both sides of the Sacramento River speak out on shareowner values. (more…)
Two of my favorite funds, CalSTRS and Florida SBA whose proxy votes are reported on ProxyDemocracy, released statements to the press about accomplishments this proxy season. Their accomplishments are impressive by any standard. (more…)