Spring 2021 CorpGov.net Proxy Proposal results are in, as reported below. New SEC rules will delay needed ESG reforms, so we worked in cooperation with more groups and filed more proposals than ever. We still averaged more than a 50% vote in favor. (more…)
Proxy Season 2021 Investor Sentiment Study: Background Proxy Season 2021 Investor Sentiment Study finds the rise and influence of individual investors presents unique opportunities to engage new investors like never before. A new survey from Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) highlights how new and younger retail investors are thinking about investing and this year’s proxy […]
I have been using Egan-Jones Proxy Services (“EJPS”) for several months to help me decide how to vote my proxies and have come to value their advice. For example, I like their policy of withholding votes from the entire compensation committee when voting against say on pay. Recently Egan-Jones announced the implementation of changes to […]
Last year it was a judge telling me he didn’t think I should have the right to submit a proxy proposal even though I owned 3-4 times the required threshold. Generally, I take the hassles of being a shareowner advocate with a grain of salt. I’m able to ignore it and forget it but here’s […]
Guest Proxy Season Review: Paul Marsland is a regular panelist and contributor to publications on corporate governance issues and has served in a number of senior roles at PIRC Ltd the UK based corporate governance consultancy most recently as Head of Policy. Time to take stock of the proxy season. The proxy season means February in […]
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 […]
The March/April edition of The Corporate Board contains several excellent articles. I e-mailed a couple of quotes from their ‘Spoken & Written’ section to a CEO who needs a real board, instead of a rubber stamp. (more…)
Mike Tyrrell is Editor of SRI-Connect – an online research marketplace for professional institutional investors, analysts & companies interested in sustainable development. He is keen to open up the site to corporate governance analysts & corporate governance research. I’ve heard so many complaints over the years about the work overload that occurs in ‘voting season’ and […]
CorpGov.net publisher/shareowner activist, James McRitchie in the news. Shareholders push for more say over board members (WSJ’s MarketWatch), on proxy access proposals at Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Sued again for daring to file proxy proposals, EMC sues shareholder activists over bid to separate CEO, chairman roles (Boston Business Journal). They lost their ‘no-action’ request […]
Two more reviews of the 2013 proxy season came out the other day. The quickest read is from Jackie Cook at CookESG (Proxy Season Roundup: Shareholder Resolutions) who analyzed 502 shareholder-sponsored resolutions voted between July 2012 and June 2013. Two-thirds are governance-related, averaging 41% support. One-third address social and environmental issues, with an average 21% level […]
Time to Move Down the Food Chain With Proxy Proposals How does director voting look so far this year? Eighty percent of directors up for election received over 90% shareholder support. And nine of ten received at least 80% support. Directors of large-cap companies had the highest rate of support, averaging 95% approval. Small cap and […]
The 2012 edition of Shareholder Activism Insight sees increasing opposition from shareowners during the next proxy season, according to 78% of respondents. Fully 84% predict an increase in the number of shareholder proposals with the financial services sector hit the hardest. One quarter of corporate executives think 30% or more of shareowner proposals will obtain […]
Continuing challenges to exclusive forum bylaw provisions – Lexology An increasingly popular trend in recent years has been the adoption by Delaware public companies of an exclusive forum provision in their bylaws. An exclusive forum provision generally provides for the Delaware Court of Chancery to be the exclusive forum for certain disputes (including derivative actions, breach […]
Fall is filing time for Responsible Wealth’s annual shareholder resolutions. Currently, Mike Lapham is working with the Center for Political Accountability to identify which corporations Responsible Wealth will file resolutions with. (more…)
James Morphy, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, has written a fairly thorough report of the 2012 proxy season, available as a pdf. I mention it here primarily to bookmark it. (more…)
June 11 – The Dean of St. John the Divine, Rev. Jim Kowalski, talks to Lucy P. Marcus about why a non-profit board needs diversity and why members need to ask tough questions. (more…)
TK Kerstetter, President, Corporate Board Member, talks with Francis Byrd, Senior Vice President, Laurel Hill Advisory Group. (more…)
Webinars on U.S. and European policy perspectives will provide valuable insight into the key corporate governance issues facing investors and companies for 2012. European Policy Perspectives: Tuesday, December 6, 2011, 2:30 PM GMT, 3:30 PM CET. Presented by ISS’ Jean-Nicolas Caprasse, Head of Business, Europe; Daniel Jarman, Head of U.K. Research; Thomas von Oehsen, Head of […]
Francis Byrd, Laurel Hill Advisory Group, Jeffrey Morgan, National Investor Relations Institute and Kenneth Wagner, Peabody Energy Corporation, discussed the governance roadshow idea at the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals conference in June. Now might be the time to begin preparing to engage shareholders with such an effort – especially since the recent […]
This Week in the Boardroom (7/7/2011) hosts Paul Washington, Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Time Warner Inc. The segment–taped at the Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals‘ National Conference in Colorado–addresses shareholder proposals, withhold vote campaigns, risk, long vs short-term, and the ever-changing role of corporate secretaries. Make it safe […]
This Week in the Boardroom‘s TK Kerstetter and Scott Cutler were joined on May 26 by John Siemann, President of Phoenix Advisory Partners. (Watch the video.) Early proxy filings were tilted towards the triennial. Very quickly, that began to as proxy advisory services and larger institutions made it clear they wanted an annual vote. ISS […]
The 2009-2010 proxy season was marked by a number of strong votes on shareholder proposals and successful corporate dialogues sponsored by Trillium Asset Management Corporation. According to Shelley Alpern, Director of ESG Research and Shareholder Engagement at Trillium: Across the industry, investor support for environmental, social and governance proposals (ESG) has climbed dramatically in the […]
Bruce Herbert, President, and Larry Dohrs, Vice President of Newground Social Investment were interviewed by Diane Horn for the Sustainability Segment of Mind Over Matters, in an hour-long radio interview on June 12, 2010 at Seattle’s KEXP. Herbert and Dohrs provide a great overview of SRI and a colorful review of the 2010 proxy season […]
Proxy Preview is an annual publication that focuses on upcoming social and environmental shareholder proposals. However, it also includes some information on governance proposals as well. It was initiated to help foundations and endowments better align investment and mission but it is useful for other organizations or individual shareholders. The Proxy Preview is published by […]
The Corporate Library’s free new report entitled “What To Expect During Proxy Season 2010,” states, “The SEC’s new ‘Proxy Disclosure Enhancements’ will likely dominate the coming season.” The report also anticipates increased scrutiny of executive compensation practices, and new disclosure requirements for compensation consultants. Finally, the report expects that publication of proxy voting outcomes will […]