Professor Gensler Congratulations. When confirmed to chair the SEC, you can take a major role in reconstructing our financial and economic systems. Below, I offer the unsolicited advice of a real “Main Street” investor. Central to a recovery that helps America address its many issues (institutional racism, inequality, climate change, anomie, etc.) is a system […]
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (BR) is a provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions to banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds and corporate issuers. They are one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is on November 12, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted. I voted with the Board’srecommendations 64% of […]
Take Action: Comment on SEC’s Rule 14a-8(i)(9) Review As proxy season draws to an end, managers, boards and their legal advisors are calling on the SEC to allow companies to exclude shareholder proposals if a company includes a proxy proposal on the same subject, even if it would do the opposite of the shareholder proposal. […]
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) is a global payments and travel company. The company, through its subsidiaries, offers products and services including charge and credit payment card products and travel-related services to consumers and businesses around the world. It is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/11/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the votes of […]
Gilead Sciences $GILD is one of the stocks in my portfolio. They are a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/6/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 4/28/2015. I voted with management 47% of the time […]
Starbucks Corporation $SBUX, which operates as a roaster, marketer, and retailer of specialty coffee worldwide, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/18/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had the votes of four funds (now more) when I checked and voted on 3/8/2015. I voted with management 81% of the time and assigned Starbucks a […]
The Walt Disney Company $DIS will hold their annual meeting tomorrow (3/12/2014). Today is the last day to vote unless you attend the meeting. My voting recommendations are at The Walt Disney Company (DIS): Proxy Score 79. Since that post a few additional funds have voted and there has been further debate: (more…)
The Walt Disney Company $DIS, which operates as a worldwide entertainment company, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 3/12/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 3/8/2015. I voted with management 79% of the time and assigned them a proxy score of 79. View Proxy […]
There has been much controversy in recent years surrounding the dual role of chair and CEO. The number of independent chair shareholder proposals seeking to separate the two positions has increased significantly and continues to rise. Both Disney and Starbucks have faced this issue in the past and shareholders once again have proposed to split […]
Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/25/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 4/22/2013. I voted with management 76% 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 […]
From Fox News: Sempra Energy (SRE, $SRE) said its board elected Chief Executive Debra L. Reed as its new chairman, succeeding former company CEO Donald E. Felsinger, who is retiring. (more…)
Note: Republished with permission of the author. Originally published on the Bloxham Voice as Independent Board Oversight, 4/10/2011. Copyright The Value Alliance. Nominating and governance processes and independent board oversight: Do they really matter? If so, to whom? In a Digest publication late last year, I wrote about an ISS policy survey that found investors, […]
At the annual meeting of rating agency Moody’s Investors Service, a resolution calling for an independent Chairman of the Board was supported by 56% of shareowners. The resolution was co-filed by Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS) and the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA).” Citing both the Corporate Core Principles and Guidelines of the […]
The number of U.S. companies that separate the chairman and CEO roles is at a historic high: 40% of the S&P 500 now separate the roles, up from 23% a decade ago, according to Spencer Stuart. Of the 40%, 19% may be classified as independent Chairs, up from 9% five years ago. A new report […]
The company that holds legal title to about 80% of all American stocks announced this week that it will separate the role of chairman and chief executive officer following a two-year review of the organization’s governance. Splitting the roles will increase its oversight of risk management and follows a growing trend by international companies that […]
Walden Asset Management filed a letter and resolution (WaldenHPLetterSepChairCEO8-10-10) with HP seeking separation of CEO and chair positions. Given the recent resignation of Mark Hurd (Mark Hurd’s Termination from HP: Case Study), timing seems ripe and important as HP searches for a new CEO. Walden cites Chairing the Board: The Case for Independent Leadership in […]
Whole Foods Market Inc. said co-founder and Chief Executive John Mackey has given up the title of chairman in order to conform with current standards for good corporate governance. As of last spring, about 37% of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index had separate chairmen and CEOs, up from 22% in 2002, […]