CalPERS investments underperform. CalPERS underperformed for a decade, investment chief says in pitch for more risk. The country’s largest public pension system earned an average of 7.7% per year on its investments over the last 10 years. That’s 1.2% less than a hypothetical peer should have expected to earn in the same time period. To remedy the […]
ICCR Proxy Resolutions and Voting Guide now includes all proposals filed so far for the 2022 season by Corporate Governance. I could not be more delighted, since this is the group that is most responsible for inspiring my own work! ICCR has published its Guide every year since 1974. The 2022 Guide discusses 436 resolutions filed by […]
CorpGov.net 2021. We said goodbye to the Trump administration, filed shareholder proposals, held weekly discussions on corporate accountability in 2021, helped shape the SEC’s repeal of several Staff Legal Bulletins, the proposed N-PX rulemaking, and sued the SEC to overturn rules that harm the rights of Main Street investors. It was a productive year at […]
Spring 2021 CorpGov.net Proxy Proposal results are in, as reported below. New SEC rules will delay needed ESG reforms, so we worked in cooperation with more groups and filed more proposals than ever. We still averaged more than a 50% vote in favor. (more…)
Corporate Accountability Fall 2021: Restoring the Balance. This is your chance to discuss the issues with Nell Minow, Michae O’Leary, Andy Behar, Josh Zinner, Doug Chia, Bruce F. Freed, Heidi Welsh, Jon Lukomnik, Tim Smith, Christina Sautter, Rick Alexander, Karen E. Woody, Sanford Lewis. Spring will include Leo Strine Jr, Brandon Rees, Jackie Cook, David […]
SEC to Protect Shareholder Rights in 2021 Shareholder rights in 2021 will strengthen if recent speculation is realized. U.S. Senate Democrats aim to undo Trump-era shareholder voting rights rule. Shareholder Rights in 2021: History As discussed elsewhere on CorpGov.net (Review: Carl Gershenson). After its founding, the SEC was largely a champion of shareholder rights, requiring companies […]
Halt Corporate Political Spending. That is the recommendation of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a coalition of investors representing over $US 2 trillion in assets under management. ICCR released a statement to the CEO members of the Business Roundtable (BRT) urging them to refrain from political spending. Take a six-month break and assess inherent […]
Broadridge 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 9:00 AM Eastern. Attend meeting online, vote your shares, and submit questions during the meeting by visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/BR20. You need the Control Number provided to you (usually by your broker or bank) to join the meeting. To enhance long-term value: […]
Political disclosure up at large publicly held U.S. companies. That’s the conclusion of The Center for Political Accountability (CPA) and The Wharton School’s Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research. Adoption of sound transparency and oversight practices for their political spending is part of an accelerating trend, according to a new scorecard. Investors want to hold […]
SEC Trampled Rights. September 23 was a bad day for shareholders, society, and the environment. It was an action typical of the Trump Administration, where political appointees work counter to the missions of regulatory bodies. The only significant “support” for the amendments from shareholders came from a few fake letters, which Chairman Clayton read into […]
Mutual fund wars are fierce around pricing. What if competition was also fierce around proxy voting? Could that change the world? I certainly think so. My petition to the SEC could generate mutual fund wars around ensuring proxy votes align with investor values. (Rulemaking Petition for Real-Time Disclosure of Proxy Votes, SEC File 4-748, Jul. […]
American values were recognized as at risk in 1932 when Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means argued that with dispersed shareholders, ownership has been separated from their control. (The Modern Corporation and Private Property) Ironically, concentration of equities under the umbrella of three or four indexed funds presents an opportunity to end that divide and make companies […]
Is Major League Baseball’s Embarrassment enough for companies to proactively adopt political transparency provisions?
Support for corporate political disclosure sponsored by the Center for Political Accountability’s resolution jumped among the largest mutual funds in 2018. An analysis by Fund Votes found support moved to 53%, up from 45% in 2017. This 8% increase was the largest since CPA began tracking institutional investor votes on its resolution in 2008. (more…)
2018 CPA-Zicklin Index shows gradual improvement. Public corporations embracing disclosure and accountability of their political spending hold fast despite countervailing pressures from Washington. (more…)
The battle over Main Street Investors could determine the future of the American economy for decades to come. According to Cydney Posner of Cooley PubCo, on one side are those who believe investors must focus on maximizing financial return and management knows best. On the other side are those who want to broaden the focus […]
Dark money risk is highlighted in recent fine. State Farm agreed to a $250 million settlement last week for $4 million in contributions it allegedly steered through conduits to Illinois State Supreme Court candidate Lloyd Karmeier. Where is the outrage over dark money? Said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability (CPA). This case […]
The Trump Jump The Center for Political Accountability reported today on a Trump Jump. Mutual funds support for the CPA’s corporate political disclosure resolution jumped significantly in the first year of the Trump presidency. In 2017, support increased to 48% from 43% in 2016, according to an analysis by Fund Votes. The analysis also found that abstentions decreased […]
Since 2003, the Center for Political Accountability (CPA) has spearheaded disclosure and accountability in corporate political spending. Corporations are the top political spenders at the state and local level. They are a dominant force in shaping public policy. Next proxy season, I will join the Center for Political Accountability in filing proposals on this important topic. […]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (CCMC) released a paper on shareholder proposal reform, which contains a “set of recommendations for the SEC on fixing the broken Rule 14a-8 system in order to protect investors and make the public company model more attractive.” See also the Chamber’s press release, U.S. Chamber Offers Recommendations to […]
CPA Statement on President Trump’s Silence on “Draining The Swamp” in Money and Politics Bruce Freed, president of CPA, issued the following statement about President Trump’s failure to address campaign finance reform and corporate political disclosure and accountability in his Inaugural Speech: President Donald Trump made ‘draining the swamp’ a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. However, the […]
Do not make the same mistake as LL Bean. The last thing I want is to turn CorpGov.net into another social media outlet on Donald Trump. However, the advice offered today by Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), is something public company boards should be discussing as they try to stay on […]
I continue my review of The Handbook of Board Governance: A Comprehensive Guide for Public, Private, and Not-for-Profit Board Member. With the current post, I provide comments on Part 7 of the book, Governance of Sustainability. This is why I got into the field as an NIMH Fellow in the late 1970s studying what forms of corporate governance would be […]
Shareholders have been urging companies to fully disclose the lobbying they do directly and through trade associations and third parties for six years now. This year 66 investors joined in filing resolutions with 50 companies seeking expanded lobbying transparency. Twinned with calls for disclosure of political spending aimed at affecting elections, this effort has had a […]
Let’s change Vanguard’s political disclosure vote. Our nation’s largest mutual fund voted against all resolutions submitted by shareholders asking for companies to disclose their political spending. Shouldn’t we have the right to know what candidates our investments are supporting? Vanguard’s Political Disclosure Vote Needs Changed Join more than 59,000 American’s who have already petitioned Vanguard to […]
At Alliant’s annual meeting on July 31st 65% of shares were voted in favor of the ICCR-sponsored proposal on increased transparency on company’s state and federal lobbying activities. That’s an exceptionally high vote for a shareholder-sponsored proposal, today investorsin Alliant Techsystems (ATK) an aerospace and defense contractor and gun manufacturer, voted in favor of a shareholder request for […]
This session features a debate on corporate political spending by Bruce Freed, president and founder of the Center for Political Accountability, and Brian Cartwright, a former general counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission. They discuss the most frequently submitted type of proxy proposal in 2013, disclosure of political expenditures. How do we address corporate […]
Qualcomm Incorporated and the New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund) announced the Fund has dropped the lawsuit it filed on January 2, 2013 because Qualcomm agreed to implement a revised political spending disclosure policy. According to Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, the CEO and Chairman of Qualcomm, (more…)
As we look back on the 2012 elections one thing is clear, money flowed like water with any barrier that might have contained it removed by Citizens United. Writing for the court in the 5-4 decision, Judge Kennedy opined: With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed […]
Green Century Capital Management, Inc., a Boston-based investment adviser to the environmentally responsible Green Century Funds, announced that Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) joins 79 other companies that have agreed to greater political transparency and accountability, according to the Center for Political Accountability (CPA). Kodak will provide increased transparency on its payments to trade associations and […]
Corning’s 6-minute video for CEO Wendell Weeks’ presentation to institutional investors and analysts in New York Feb. 4th has become the most-watched corporate video of all time on YouTube with more than 8.8 million views. It showcases potential (more…)
Back in July, I signed onto a letter from the Center for Political Accountability, Walden Asset Management and Domini Social Investment asking companies about their use of new corporate political spending routes opened up by the Citizens United decision. As of October 7, 2010, 68 companies have formally responded, with several more responses expected. 35 […]
Yes, corporate governance takes on more importance since the decision. Corporations could easily control our elections. ExxonMobil spent $45 million lobbying at the federal level during the 2007-2008 election cycle. Jamin Raskin, Professor of Constitutional Law at American University and a Maryland State Senator, says if they spent 10% of their 2008 profits, or $8.5 […]