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 […]
Tag Archives | Glass Lewis
Video Friday – Double Feature: Church of England & Glass Lewis
James McRitchie, 03/08/2013 ,
I’m taking the day off from writing a real post. Instead, I refer you to Usman Hayat‘s informative interview of Edward Mason, secretary of the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG). I found it interesting how (more…)
AFL-CIO Key Votes Survey Results for 2012
James McRitchie, 02/28/2013 ,
Vanguard, Northern Trust, BlackRock and Fidelity scored the lowest among researched funds in supporting AFL-CIO endorsed proxy issues in 2012, according to their 2012 Key Votes Survey. Calvert, Amalgamated Bank, McMorgan and Bridgeway scored the highest. On proxy-voting issues at 32 companies the AFL-CIO considers representative of a “worker-owner view of value that emphasizes management accountability and good corporate governance,” Vanguard […]
Key Changes to Proxy Advisor Policies for 2013
James McRitchie, 12/26/2012 ,
I was going to write-up a short guide to recently announced changes by Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis but after reading a recent Alert from Weil I’ve decided to save time by simply touching on a few of the main points and recommending readers go directly to the Alert. Why reinvent the Weil? (Sorry, […]
Sempra Defies Shareowners
James McRitchie, 11/14/2012 ,
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…)
Event: The Role of Proxy Advisory Firms
James McRitchie, 10/25/2012 ,
The U.S. Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (CCMC) will hold a half-day event on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 in Washington DC to take an in-depth look at the influence of proxy advisors and the state of corporate governance in the U.S. It would be nice to get some shareowners out to at least listen and report back to […]
Proxy Access: A New Version for 2013
James McRitchie, 10/24/2012 ,
Update: This is a revised version of an earlier post this month. I’ve deleted that post because I don’t want anyone to mistakenly use the prior draft language. I’m hoping this language is a little tighter but always welcome reader suggestions. Last month I hoped ISS would reconsider their analysis of our proxy access proposal […]
Costco: Proxy Advisor Contest Proposed
James McRitchie, 08/14/2012 ,
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. […]
Video Friday: Defending Against Negative Say-On-Pay Recommendations
James McRitchie, 08/03/2012 ,
In say-on-pay’s second year, recommendations from proxy advisors have grown in significance for public companies. This week’s Behind The Numbers, from Equilar takes a look at firms that faced daunting negative recommendations by proxy advisors in 2012 and examines what those companies did to defend their pay practices. (more…)
Failed SOP Companies Become Targets
James McRitchie, 07/16/2012 ,
For future reference, I’m bookmarking 2012 Say-on-Pay Votes: Fulfilled Expectations, Though Not Without Surprises by Shirley Westcott of Alliance Advisors, LLC, originally published in the corporate governance newsletter VIPsight. (more…)
Wal-Mart: How I Voted – Proxy Score 10%
James McRitchie, 05/24/2012 ,
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) ($WMT) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/1/2012. Voting ends 5/31 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 8 recommendations “from good causes,” including 3 consolidations, when I checked and voted on 5/24. ProxyDemocracy.org had 4 funds voting. I voted with management 10% of the time. (more…)
Monitoring: Which Institutions Matter?
James McRitchie, 05/13/2012 ,
Worth taking another look, especially in light of the likely upcoming transition at Canadian Pacific (Bill Ackman: ‘A Stake in the Ground, Globe & Mail, 5/11/2012): Li, Kai, Harford, Jarrad and Chen, Xia, Monitoring: Which Institutions Matter?, Available at SSRN. (more…)
Corporate Directors Forum 2012 – Part 5: Proxy Advisors; Fashion Police?
James McRitchie, 02/06/2012 ,
These are some relatively quick notes that I’m sharing from the Corporate Directors Forum 2012, held on the beautiful campus of the University of San Diego, January 22-24, 2012. Since I am busy with no-action requests, this post may be a cryptic… (more…)
Regulations for Proxy Advisory Firms Urged
James McRitchie, 01/17/2012 ,
Earlier today, the Shareholder Communications Coalition, composed of organizations not generally associated with shareholder advocates (Business Roundtable, National Investor Relations Institute, Securities Transfer Association, and The Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals), sent a letter to the SEC with its suggestions for a proposed (more…)
Kinetic Concepts: Victory for Shareowners!
James McRitchie, 05/17/2011 ,
I was about to sit down this morning and write another scathing post on Kinetic Concepts when I learned of their press release announcing they will gradually declassify their board. They gave no reason as to why they took this action just ahead of their annual meeting. Perhaps they looked again at their guiding principles, We […]
HP Nomination Committee Under Fire
James McRitchie, 03/16/2011 ,
I recently got this from an anonymous member (here are related thoughts from Cydney Posner and Marty Lipton): You may have seen the stories regarding ISS’ recommendation that shareholders withhold against the entire Hewlett-Packard nominating committee for the way new directors were selected. I haven’t seen the ISS report, but the news stories (eg. WSJ […]
Understanding Proxy Advisors
James McRitchie, 04/14/2010 ,
As annual meetings approach, issuers and investors find themselves needing to work with RiskMetrics, Glass Lewis, PROXYGovernance, and other proxy advisors. Who are these firms and why are they so important? How can they make or break a campaign for board of directors positions or shareowner proposals? The Activist Investor provides a brief review and […]
RiskMetrics Group Reportedly on the Auction Block
James McRitchie, 01/23/2010 ,
According to a Wall Street Journal report, RiskMetrics Group Inc. has put itself on the auction block. “The company could fetch a premium of about 30% to its current value, said one person involved in a potential transaction. That would value the company, which has about 1,100 employees, all in New York, at around $1.3 […]
February 2009 Special News Supplement: Corporate Governance Roundup 2009
James McRitchie, 02/27/2009 ,
Yippee-i-o-ki-ay! From the conference flyer, I half expected Will Pryor, Director of the IAFF Local 1014 and conference “go-to” guy, to show up in chaps, especially with his e-mail encouraging attendees to dress casually. Well, maybe next year. Suits and jackets prevailed in the fashion arena but there was little in the way of pretense […]
News Archives: October 2007
James McRitchie, 10/30/2007 ,