Costco will report on prison labor in its supply chain, such as pajamas from China, making it if the first U.S. company to make a public commitment to disclose known instances. Many thanks to NorthStar Asset Management for negotiating the agreement. (more…)
Costco ESG momentum has improved. I submitted a shareholder proposal to help keep it on that path. The proposal would eliminate a corporate governance anomaly Costco has by virtue of being incorporated in the state of Washington, which allows articles of incorporation to provide that directors cannot be removed without cause by shareholders. (more…)
Prison Labor concerns raised again by NorthStar Asset Management won nearly 29% of shareholder votes at Costco Wholesale meeting on January 24, up from almost 5% last year. The proposal asked for enhanced analysis and disclosure on risks related to prison labor in the company’s supply chain. Yes, if you just read that old link from a […]
Peter Georgescu’s Capitalists Arise!: End Economic Inequality, Grow the Middle Class, Heal the Nation correctly identifies short-termism and a focus on stock price as a problem contributing to growing wealth inequality. His solutions depend on enlightened managers and boards to transform how America does business by taking all stakeholders into account, not just shareholders. I say, don’t […]
Most top grocers fail on bee and pollinator protection Poll shows 80 percent of Americans support eliminating bee-killing pesticides from agriculture A new report and scorecard grades 20 of the largest food retailers in the U.S on their policies and practices regarding pollinator protection, organic offerings and pesticide reduction. Of the top food retailers, 17 received an “F” for failing to […]
Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST), which operates membership warehouses, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 1/29/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org lists the votes of 6 funds from 5 fund families. You can also find votes from CalSTRS and OTPP. I voted with management 36% of the time and assigned them a proxy score of 36. […]
Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 1/30/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 1/19/2014 (They now show five). I voted with management 25% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
This is Part 2 of a post which started out reviewing the important thesis outlined in The Agency Costs of Agency Capitalism: Activist Investors and the Revaluation of Governance Rights by Ronald J. Gilson and Jeffrey N. Gordon (January 1, 2013). See Agency Capitalism: Corrective Measures Part 1 and Part 3. Current law encourages mindless indexing of portfolios and voting like lemmings […]
Costco ($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 […]
A complimentary 90-minute webinar co-sponsored by Eagle Rock Proxy Advisors and Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP will be held at 2:00 p.m., EDT, on Thursday, November 1, 2012. Register now. (more…)
After his victory at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), Ackman claimed “Directors are sitting up more straight and reading board materials more carefully and questioning the CEO more intently. That is a very, very good thing.” Who can argue with that? But will better posture, thorough reading of thousands of pages of board materials and asking more […]
My wife, Myra Young, submitted a proxy proposal to Costco aimed at establishing a new and innovative way for shareowners to obtain proxy voting advice. The proposal would set up a contest, pay for proxy advice out of entry fees and corporate funds, and would then share the advice of four winners with all Costco shareowners. […]
Costco Wholesale Company (COST) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming today. Voting on MoxyVote.com‘s platform has already ended; I procrastinated too long. However, I can still look at advice (more…)