N-PX Data Tagging? Yes, that might be the most important rulemaking the SEC could undertake to move our economy in a positive direction. SEC Commissioner Allison Herron Lee gives voice to this small change that could have a dramatic impact on how America invests (about 7 minutes into the video below). Read the text. Structuring […]
Training for Sustainable Investing was a topic at the most recent Morningstar Conference in Chicago. (#MICUS) I would like to learn more the education of investment advisors in #ESG, #SRI, #corpgov issues. Interest in sustainable investing was high at the conference due to fund flows and client inquiries. However, I only saw a couple of […]
Retail shareowners own about 1/3 of shares traded in the United States but vote only about 1/3 of the shares we own. Moreover, when we do vote, we frequently do so by blindly or unknowingly voting with management. In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, I explored five internet platforms that were designed […]
James McRitchie, the publisher of Corporate Governance and one of three retail shareowners accused in the New York Times of holding Corporate America ‘hostage,’ will be in Los Angeles September 29 through October 1 attending the Council of Institutional Investors Fall 2014 Conference. I am eager to meet with readers to discuss activist corporate governance […]
Broc Romanek‘s CorporateAffairs.tv has started with a bang and plenty of early content in the form of brief videos that even those of us with attention deficit disorder can watch without missing a beat. Some in the ‘entertainment’ category are not so much for me. Still, it is great to see Broc and friends having […]
In 2012 Cambridge University launched a Masters degree in Corporate Law (the MCL), which offers students the opportunity to engage in detailed study of the legal and regulatory framework within which companies are governed and financed. The MCL, a full-time nine-month program, is taught by the Cambridge Law Faculty’s team of corporate lawyers, widely recognized as […]
I’ve received praise before: CII said my petition to the SEC on proxy access “re-energized” the debate on that subject, Lexis-Nexis subscribers listed my site among the top 25 business blogs and the NACD put me on a list of “people to watch.” However, never have I felt so honored as when I heard Bob […]
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in conjunction with the International Center for Journalists, has produced A Guide to Reporting on Corporate Governance designed for reporters and editors with experience covering business and finance. The goal is to help journalists develop stories that examine how companies are governed, and spot events that […]
This is an advanced entrepreneurship class, designed for teams who have already started a company or are seriously thinking about starting a company. So, don’t think just anyone will be accepted to this high-powered but free class. They encourage teams to take this class together, since much of the work will be focused on working […]
Mason Morfit, a partner at ValueAct Capital and one of the most successful shareholder activists in the US, according to the Rock Center announcement, and Abe Friedman, of CJB Capital Management (former Global Head of Corporate Governance & (more…)
Excerpt from a 2011 Corporate Governance conference. Uploaded by Dr. R. Leblanc on Mar 30, (more…)
TheShareholderActivist.com™ is a new source for information and advice to facilitate responsible shareholder activism. The site includes tools, tactics, and techniques to help retail investors fully exercise their rights in publicly traded (more…)
Trust and Human Resource Management, edited by Rosalind Searle and Denise Skinner highlight trust as key to human resource management (HRM) from pre-entry to post-employment. The collection will be of great value to academics in the HR field and to practitioners interested in enhancing trust levels in their organizations. Trust has long been associated with […]
Did it Pass? The Complexities of Shareholder Voting by Keith Bishop – One of many speakers on the program at this years’s NASPP Conference to be held from November 1-4 in (more…)
It was 1952 when this economics and investing video explained how to get in on the American Dream. (more…)
To be a company director, you need to be over 18, not insane (or at least found to be insane by a judge), and not bankrupt. That’s it. You can sit on a major board of directors, and not know anything about the company, its industry, or even know how to read a financial statement. […]
Recently, ICGN held their annual conference in Paris. From the Twitter feed, it appears I missed a good one. (see ICGN Via Twitter) I’ve already mentioned Jon Lukomnik’s appeal to look again at the idea that shareowners’ interests and executives’ can be aligned through compensation strategies. I think one origin of our errors was revising the […]
I haven’t read the new Guidebook but I see that Corporate Counsel invited Weil, Gotshal & Manges partner Holly Gregory, who co-chaired the committee that authored the book talk about it with Spencer Smul of Estee Lauder and Lynn Stout of UCLA School of Law who did not. Asked about what’s been preserved from prior edition, […]
The IRRC Institute announced a competition for research that examines the interaction of the real economy with investment theory. Two papers – one academic and one practitioner – will receive the new “IRRC Institute Research Award” along with a $10,000 award. Of course, we would like both prizes to go to CorpGov.net readers. One of […]
Yes, it is an ad… but a good one. Maybe this will help more directors become (more…)
Like many, I read that a proposal at McDonalds to halt marketing to kids, retire Ronald McDonald, and report on links between fast food and children’s health, failed… winning only 6% of shares voted. Every change has to start somewhere. However, I also learned from a reliable source that a proposal submitted by Florida SBA, with the […]
On “This Week in the Boardroom,” hosts TK Kerstetter, President, Corporate Board Member, and Scott Cutler, Executive Vice President, NYSE Euronext, announced the launch of the NYSE Board Education Program which is designed to provide voluntary education for public and private company board members and offers core information and critical updates through Corporate Board Member […]
On April 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission published a request for public comment on the effectiveness of existing investor education efforts as part of a review mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. Request for Comment Submit Comment Section 917 directs the SEC to conduct a study of retail investors’ financial literacy and submit its findings […]
Knowledge@Wharton announced the latest addition to their network –- Knowledge@Wharton High School. The site offers articles, interviews, a video glossary of business terms, an interactive stock market game and other features, all designed to teach high school students more about business and finance. The free site, in Spanish as well as English, also includes a […]
The Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance has won funding to begin a yearlong fellowship for research into such issues as CEO pay and has created an online training course for board directors. The Edgar Woolard Fellowship (funded by the Investor Responsibility Research Center) — named in honor of the former DuPont Co. CEO — will […]
On This Week in the Boardroom (TWIB), host TK Kerstetter, President of Corporate Board Member, sat down with Pat McGurn, Special Counsel, RiskMetrics Group, to debate and discuss the importance of what’s on the horizon for continuing board education.
CalPERS. A report from consultant Wilshire Associates found that activist involvement by CalPERS increased returns at many of the 142 “Focus List” companies. Prior to the pension’s involvement, the companies’ returns averaged 83.3% below their various benchmarks; afterward they yielded returns 12.7% above the benchmarks. Although the cumulative 12.7% is not as high as past results, their corporate governance program […]
Join The Corporate Library on April 28 for a free webinar with Chief Analyst and co-founder, Ric Marshall. New SEC proxy disclosure rules and changing director election standards have greatly expanded the ability of shareholders to influence election outcomes for individual corporate directors, but for many investors they have also increased the complexity and uncertainty […]
The Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University makes available case studies used in teaching corporate governance. Listings are on SSRN. Typical issues covered include: Say on Pay, activist investing, Netflix and their compensation packages that allow employees to determine their own mix of cash and equity-based awards, 10b5-1 plans providing a safe haven […]
Mark Latham represents individual investors on the SEC Investor Advisory Committee (SECIAC). He reports in his VoterMedia Finance Blog on a creative Voter-Funded Investor Education Proposal. It was considered by the Investor Education subcommittee. Unfortunately, he was informed the SEC is not empowered to distribute funds to other organizations. Hopefully, he will be able to […]
Ignites and FundFire are jointly hosting “Social Investing Opportunities And Challenges” a special 45-minute webinar on January 26th, 11:00 AM EDT, helping money managers, financial advisors and investment consultants address the increased interest in investments focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Sponsored by The Corporate Library, an independent corporate governance research firm, this […]