Spring 2020 CorpGov.net Proxy Proposal results are in. Once again, rules proposed by the SEC would likely cost shareholders billions of dollars because of delayed good governance practices. Since the SEC has not yet finalized their costly rulemaking, I filed the following update on their proposed Procedural Requirements and Resubmission Thresholds under Exchange Act Rule […]
Chipotle 2020 annual meeting is 5/19/2020 at 8AM Pacific virtually by entering the eligible shareholder’s 16-digit control number found on the proxy card. To enhance long-term value: Vote AGAINST Baldocchi, Niccol and Flanzraich, Auditor, Pay. Vote FOR Retention of Shares, Independent Chair, Report on Arbitration and Written Consent. See list of all virtual-only meetings maintained by ISS. (more…)
Publisher’s Note: The following guest post from Timothy Smith reproduces a recent investor letter to the BRT (Business Roundtable) concerning the importance of shareholder resolutions. I added title, graphics, changed some of the formatting and added a note about the BRT for background. See also previous posts: Financial CHOICE Act: From too big to fail, to […]
Proxy Access at Apple (AAPL) will be one of the most important votes of the proxy season. Will shareholders settle for the board’s recently adopted “lite” version, akin to greenwashing, or will shareholders vote in favor of real proxy access? Boards, investors, and the corporate governance industrial complex are watching in anticipation. Your opportunity to vote […]
Procter & Gamble Co (NYSE:PG) provides consumer packaged goods and is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their next annual meeting is October 13, 2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted. I voted with the Board’s recommendations 56% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Read Warnings below. What follows are my recommendations on how to vote […]
Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE:SNI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. They develop lifestyle-oriented content for television and the Internet with various television and interactive brands. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/12/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the votes of three funds when I checked and voted on 5/5/2015. I voted with management 50% of the time and assigned […]
Marriott International Inc $MAR is one of the stocks in my portfolio. They operate and franchise of hotels, corporate housing properties, and timeshare properties under numerous brand names which includes Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, EDITION, Autograph Collection, AC Hotels by Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by […]
Kimberly Clark Corp (KMB), which manufactures and markets personal care, consumer tissue, and K-C professional products, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/30/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of four funds when I checked and voted on 4/24/2015. I voted with management 57% of the time and assigned Kimberly Clark a proxy […]
The Coca-Cola Co (KO), which primarly manufactures and distributes various nonalcoholic beverages, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/29/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote of three funds when I checked and voted on 4/22/2015 (they now have more). I voted with management 58% of the time and assigned Coca-Cola a proxy score of […]
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO), which manufactures and supplies products and systems used to separate complex chemical and biological materials, as well as to identify, analyze, and purify their components for life science research, healthcare, analytical chemistry, and other markets, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/28/2015. ProxyDemocracy.org had the vote […]
More than 80 reporters from 26 countries sifted through up to 1,000 leaked documents and collaborated across borders to tell the Luxembourg Leaks story on multiple platforms. But one of the main difficulties reporters faced was translating the complexity of the financial arrangements laid out in the leaked documents to language and examples that a broad audience could understand. The animation below, Luxembourg […]
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. […]
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 […]
Guest Post by Adam M. Kanzer, managing director and general counsel of Domini Social Investments LLC, New York. His responsibilities include directing Domini’s shareholder advocacy department, where for more than ten years he has led numerous dialogues with corporations on a wide range of social and environmental issues. The following originally appeared under the same title in the […]
This is the second of a three part series. See also Fiduciary Duty to Announce Votes (Part 1): Editorial Calls For Advanced Disclosure and Fiduciary Duty to Announce Votes (Part 3): Take Action. A major landmark in establishing a fiduciary duty for proxy voting was the Department of Labor’s (DOL) 1988 Avon Letter, which was based on specific sections […]
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 […]
Gilead Sciences $GILD is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/7/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked and voted on 4/28/2014. I voted with management 43% of the time. View GILD’s Proxy Statement, which has a linked Table of Contents. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the […]
International Business Machines Corp. $IBM, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/29/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 4/22/2014. 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 […]
The Coca-Cola Company $KO, is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/23/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 4/15/2014. I voted with management 63% of the time. View Proxy Statement, which by the way is very nice and user friendly. See 18 Cool Things about the proxy. Warning: […]
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 […]
Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 11/19/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked (there have been more since). I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted […]
I’ve started to use Sharegate.com to network with other shareowners around specific companies. The first company I’m working on through Sharegate is Reeds (REED). I think our company’s product line is strong but management and the board appear to be weak in distribution skills. After years of refining and growing their fine products, #REED still is not profitable. […]
I am delighted to announce that Kalpona Akter, a former garment worker from Bangladesh who is the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, will have access to the floor of the WalMart ($WMT) annual meeting on Friday, June 7 in Bentonville, Arkansas. She has been an outspoken critic of sweatshop conditions in Bangladesh […]
Google (GOOG) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/6/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/23/2013. I voted with management 53% 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 […]
Amazon.com, Inc. ($AMZN) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/23/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/16/2013. I voted with management 64% of the time. View Proxy Statement (high tech AMZN but no hyperlinked index). Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left […]
Marriott International Inc ($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 […]
Kimberly Clark ($KMB) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/2/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I checked on 4/26/2013. I voted with management 64% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of […]
American Express Company ($AXP) is a stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 4/29/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of six funds when I checked on 4/22/2013. I voted with management 59% 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 […]
Apple ($AAPL) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/27/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I checked on 2/19/2012. They listed the votes of six funds voting as of yesterday. I voted with management 46% of the time. View Proxy Statement. I voted, despite David Einhorn’s attempt to get an […]
Investors recently announced filing of shareowner resolutions at several corporations with board members who also sit on the Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, challenging these corporate boards to review their policies and oversight of political expenditures, especially through trade associations. The first filings are at Accenture, IBM, Pepsi and Pfizer. The filers believe […]
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 […]
The first ever shareholder resolution on BPA that was filed at Coca-Cola received 22% of the vote. The information below is from Michael Passoff of As You Sow, which was a co-filer on the shareholder resolution: Our speaker at the Coke annual meeting just reported that the shareholder resolution on BPA received a 22% vote. […]
Mutual Funds: Pass Through Voting? Various studies have shown that mutual funds often place their own interest in asset gathering ahead of their fiduciary duties. After studying proxy voting by US funds, Jennifer S. Taub (of UMass) concludes one option might be to “borrow from British reforms by creating a uniform set of best practices […]