The Costs and Benefits of Shareholder Democracy (download from SSRN) by Nickolay Gantchev and Mariassunta Giannetti was referenced several times in the SEC’s proposed rulemaking to “modernize” the shareholder proposal process by making corporations more of democratic-free. The research was also referenced by two SEC Commissioners at the meeting when the proposal was initially voted […]
ISS sues SEC is now “old” news, but I was on vacation when they did so on October 30, 2019, and have been busy since then. This post is primarily for my own future reference. Since the action is historically significant, I may want to reference it in the future. This post on CorpGov.net I […]
Investment Advisers: Allison Lee Statement Re SEC Guidance Investment advisers, proxy services. – It is not often that I simply reprint a post from another source, in this case the SEC. However, I have filed this one under history of corporate governance. I may want to reference it as I an example of where the SEC formally misstepped. […]
Real-time proxy voting disclosure by big funds could drive competition for investments from individual investors and smaller institutional investors with few resources for proxy analysis. Such disclosures would also go a long way in solving problems raised by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Lucian Bebchuk, and the Main Street Investors Coalition regarding potential […]
Shareholder Collaboration is a new ECGI working paper by Jill Fisch and Simone M. Sepe. Fisch is one of my favorite researchers, being insightful and less predictable than many of those in the primary academic hubs of corporate governance (Harvard, Stanford, and Delaware). In Shareholder Collaboration, the authors discuss the growing importance of a collaborative […]
HR 4015 Statement of Opposition HR 4015 was opposed yesterday by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services. She gave the following floor statement in opposition to HR 4015, a bill that would undermine sound corporate governance: Mr. Speaker, HR 4015, the so-called Corporate Governance Reform and Transparency Act, would […]
Controlled companies generally underperformed non-controlled firms in terms of total shareholder returns, revenue growth, and return on equity, according to a new report, Controlled Companies in the Standard & Poor’s 1500: A Follow-up Review of Performance & Risk, commissioned by the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute (IRRCi) and conducted by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS). The study also finds […]
Apple shareholders rejected real proxy access at their meeting on February 25, 2016. Maybe shareholders thought they already have it. Recent decisions by the SEC could lead shareholders to believe proxy access was “substantially implemented.” Maybe they wanted to support Apple’s management while the company is under attack from the FBI. ISS recommended a […]
Many readers refer to and rely on QuickScores issued by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). It is in our interest to have those scores calculated using the best available data. Issuers have until Friday, 11/13/2015, 8 pm ET to submit updates and corrections through the ISS verification process. New scores are expected to be released on […]
Attention everyone who thinks ISS has too much say over how proxies are voted. It might be a good time for you to see how those policies are actually developed. No, ISS doesn’t develop its policies by reviewing all the academic research to determine which types of proxy proposals create value or are correlated with […]
Whole Foods Market, Inc. $WFM is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 2/24/2014. ProxyDemocracy.org was down for maintenance when I checked and voted on 2/16/2013, so no voting advice there. Fortunately, I did get some help from PIRC. I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement. (more…)
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…)
United Natural Foods, Inc. $UNFI is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 12/18/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked and voted on 12/11/2013. I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are […]
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.(ISS), a leading proxy advisor, kicked off its annual global policy formulation process in July 2013 by inviting institutional investors, corporate issuers, corporate directors and various other governance market constituents to participate in its 2014 proxy voting policy survey. This year, the survey has been streamlined to encourage global market participants to […]
EMC Corp ($EMC) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/1/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of seven funds when I checked on 4/30/2013. 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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
The influential proxy analyst, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), recommends voting against Kenneth Steiner’s proxy access proposal at H&R Block (HRB) on 9/13 because it “could undermine the efforts of larger, long-term shareholders whose interests might better reflect those of the broader shareholder base.” Their logic appears flawed. Larger, longer-term shareowners would gain rights, not lose them, […]