Broadridge No-Action Request Threatens Democracy Broadridge No-Action request threatens democracy, so it deserves a second post because of its critical importance. At an in-person meeting, everyone can easily see a show of hands when the moderator asks if anyone needs more time to vote. Not so at virtual shareholder meetings, which have quickly become the […]
Many were not surprised when the SEC, under Trump appointees, made it more difficult for retail shareholders to submit proposals. Read about our ongoing efforts to overturn that roadblock at Restore Shareholder Proposal Rights. However, most will be surprised that Broadridge Financial Solutions filed a no-action request that could end meaningful proxy voting at meetings, […]
Alphabet 2023. Fair Elections is just one of several issues to be voted on before or at the annual meeting at 9:00 am Pacific on June 2, 2023. Vote AGAINST board items except for Chavez; FOR all shareholder proposals except #& & #14. Join the meeting with your control number. (more…)
Teladoc Health 2023. Fair Elections is just one of several issues to be voted on before the annual meeting at 9:00 am Pacific on June 2, 2023. Vote AGAINST Gorevic, Mckinley, Paulus, Snow, Pay, Stock Incentive; FOR Employee Stock, Auditor, Fair Elections #6. Join the meeting with your control number. (more…)
Amazon 2023. Fair Elections is just one of many issues to be voted on before the annual meeting at 9:00 am Pacific on May 24, 2023. Vote Against Bezos, Cooper, Gorelick, Huttenlocher, McGrath, Rubinstein, Stonesifer; For Fair Elections #15 & many shareholder proposals. Join the meeting with your control number. (more…)
Stryker 2023 Political Disclosure is up for a vote during the AGM at 6 am Pacific on May 10, 2023. Vote AGAINST all directors, auditor, and executive pay; FOR #5 Political Disclosure. (more…)
Kellogg 2023 Pay Equity Disclosure is just one of several issues to be voted on before the annual meeting at 10 am Pacific on April 28, 2023. Vote AGAINST Burns, Cahallane, pay, auditor & audit looking for discrimination against white males; FOR#6 pay equity disclosure. (more…)
Christians are called to be “salt and light” in this world. This reference to a passage in the book of Matthew chapter 5 (vs. 13-16) speaks to the dual role we all can have in impacting our world for the better. To be salt is to be “in the world but not of it,” to […]
INDEX investors empowered by iconikapp can regain control of capitalism from the financial services industry. Invest indirectly in 500 companies & vote YOUR VALUES AUTOMATICALLY before each annual shareholder meeting. ONEFUND (ticker symbol INDEX) partnered with iconikapp.com to give retail investors a say in how the fund’s shares are voted. Iconikapp’s technology enables fund managers to […]
Musings Missed Musings; not all of mine got mentioned at the Forum. I had the distinct pleasure of being a panelist at the Public Funds Forum 2022 with Maine’s Treasurer Henry Beck and David Wescoe, Executive Director of the Texas Municipal Retirement System. Our topic was Best Practices in Fund Governance. I thought of several […]
nCino 2022 annual meeting is June 23, 2022, at 7 am Pacific. It is a virtual-only meeting on the Broadridge platform. I recommend voting in advance, especially since many companies cut off voting as soon as proposals have been presented. To enhance corporate governance and long-term value, vote Against Steven Collins, Spencer Lake, and pay. Vote FOR Majority […]
Illumina 2022 annual meeting is May 26, 2022, at 9:00 am Pacific. It is a virtual-only meeting on the Broadridge platform. Of course, I recommend voting in advance, especially since many companies cut off voting as soon as proposals have been presented. To enhance corporate governance and long-term value, vote Against Guthart, Dorsa, Epstein, #5 Illusionary Special […]
Charles Schwab 2022 annual meeting is on May 17, 2022, at 11:30 am Pacific. It is a virtual-only meeting. Of course, I recommend voting in advance, especially since they have made it very difficult to vote at the meeting and maybe even to enter the meeting. To enhance corporate governance and long-term value, vote Against Ellis, […]
Apple 2022 annual meeting is March 4, 9 AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit here. You will also need your voter control number. Of course, I recommend voting in advance. To enhance corporate governance and long-term value, vote Against Gore, Jung, Levinson, Sugar, Auditor, Exec Pay, Stock […]
Enhanced Reporting of Proxy Votes by Registered Management Investment Companies; Reporting of Executive Compensation Votes by Institutional Investment Managers (link: Conformed to Federal Register version) File No: S7-11-21. Comments Due: December 14, 2021. Comments received are available. How to Submit Comments. Please submit a comment in support of this important rulemaking. Regulatory agencies typically continue to consider comments until rulemaking is finalized. […]
True Shareholder Democracy? Jeff Sommer at the New York Times thinks he’s glimpsed the future. (A Glimpse of a Future With True Shareholder Democracy) He is off the mark but focuses on a fundamental issue, John Coates’ The Problem of Twelve. Should twelve people control US public companies? True Shareholder Democracy? More important than INDEX’s […]
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 […]
Disney 2021 annual meeting is March 9, 10 AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting, visit virtualshareholdermeeting.com/DIS2021 and enter your control number. I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Iger, Barra, Lagomasio, Parker, the Auditor, and Pay. Vote FOR Lobbying Disclosure and Increase Diversity of Director […]
Apple 2021 annual meeting is February 23, 9AM Pacific Time. To attend, vote, and submit questions during the Annual Meeting visit virtualshareholdermeeting.com/AAPL2021 and enter the 16-digit control number. Of course, I recommend voting in advance. To enhance long-term value. Vote AGAINST Gore, Levinson, Sugar, the Auditor, and Pay. Vote FOR Proxy Access Amendment and Improve Executive […]
Professor Gensler Congratulations. When confirmed to chair the SEC, you can take a major role in reconstructing our financial and economic systems. Below, I offer the unsolicited advice of a real “Main Street” investor. Central to a recovery that helps America address its many issues (institutional racism, inequality, climate change, anomie, etc.) is a system […]
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 […]
SEC Trampled Rights. September 23 was a bad day for shareholders, society, and the environment. It was an action typical of the Trump Administration, where political appointees work counter to the missions of regulatory bodies. The only significant “support” for the amendments from shareholders came from a few fake letters, which Chairman Clayton read into […]
Union Pacific 2020 annual meeting is 5/14/2020 at 6AM Pacific virtually by entering the eligible shareholder’s 16-digit control number found on the proxy card. To enhance long-term value: Vote AGAINST Card, Fritz, McCarthy and McLarty, Auditor, Pay. Vote FOR Independent Board Chair and Climate Report. See list of all virtual-only meetings maintained by ISS. (more…)
Gadfly importance to democratic corporate governance is often underrated. We are currently under attack by the Business Roundtable (BRT) and others seeking to substantially raise the ownership threshold for submitting and resubmitting proposals. BRT, for example, contends proposals from small shareholder divert “significant time and resources to issues that, at best, have an attenuated connection to the […]
Mutual fund wars are fierce around pricing. What if competition was also fierce around proxy voting? Could that change the world? I certainly think so. My petition to the SEC could generate mutual fund wars around ensuring proxy votes align with investor values. (Rulemaking Petition for Real-Time Disclosure of Proxy Votes, SEC File 4-748, Jul. […]
Josh Levin of OpenInvest was kind enough to chat with me at Morningstar’s Investment Conference earlier this year. Unfortunately, I was busy and distracted but curious about Josh Levin and his investment platform. Could OpenInvest and similar firms disrupt the mutual fund industry? Andreessen Horowitz, YCombinator, QED, and others back OpenInvest financially. I knew OpenInvest allows customers […]
Discover 2019 Proxy Vote Recommendations. The Discover Financial Services (DFS) 2019 annual meeting is May 16th. To enhance long-term shareholder value, vote AGAINST directors Aronin, Case, and Weinbach, as well as the auditor. Vote FOR pay, end supermajority standards and shareholder proposal to allow shareholder of 15% to call a special meeting. ABSTAIN on the […]
When investing for gender-diversity for other ESG, check fund voting records. With the SEC’s cryptic proxy vote disclosure system, that is difficult (draft Petition for Real-Time Disclosure of Proxy Votes), so ask your investment advisor and hope they subscribe to Morningstar Direct. As evidenced by a recent Morningstar report, State Street’s Fearless Girl appears timid about […]
Jill Fisch, et al. addresses a central myth around index funds and investors in Passive Investors (June 29, 2018). Her research has implications applicable to recent analysis and recommendations by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr., Professor Lucian Bebchuk and others. The following is the central highlight: Our key insight is that although […]
Glass Lewis 2019 proxy advice updates address many issues. See 2019 Proxy Paper Guidelines: An Overview of the Glass Lewis Approach to Proxy Advice. I have reproduced much of the summary of changes below, leaving off the section discussing clarifying amendments. One that stands out for our small group of so-called ‘gadflies’ addresses our concern […]
FB, Facebook, provides various products to connect and share through mobile devices, personal computers, and other surfaces worldwide. Most shareholders do not vote because reading through 60+ pages of the proxy is not worth the time for the small difference your vote will make. Below, I tell you how I am voting and why. If […]
Axon Enterprise, Inc. (AAXN) develops, manufactures, and sells conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) worldwide. Most shareholders do not vote because reading through 60+ pages of the proxy is not worth the time for the small difference your vote will make. Below, I tell you how I am voting and why. If you have read these posts related […]
NEE Nextera Energy. through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. Most shareholders do not vote because reading through 100+ pages of the proxy is not worth the time for the small difference your vote will make. Below, I tell you how I am voting […]
IRBT (iRobot Corporation) designs, builds, and sells robots for the consumer market worldwide. Most shareholders do not vote because reading through 70+ pages of the proxy is not worth the time for the small difference your vote will make. Below, I tell you how I am voting and why. If you have read these posts related […]
Illumina (ILMN), provides sequencing and array-based solutions for genetic analysis. Most shareholders do not vote because reading through 70+ pages of the proxy is not worth the time for the small difference your vote will make. Below, I tell you how I am voting and why. If you have read these posts related to my portfolio for […]