Corporate Accountability Fall 2021: Restoring the Balance. This is your chance to discuss the issues with Nell Minow, Michae O’Leary, Andy Behar, Josh Zinner, Doug Chia, Bruce F. Freed, Heidi Welsh, Jon Lukomnik, Tim Smith, Christina Sautter, Rick Alexander, Karen E. Woody, Sanford Lewis. Spring will include Leo Strine Jr, Brandon Rees, Jackie Cook, David […]
CalPERS and CalSTRS are working with an Advisory Panel of leading corporate governance experts to develop a new digital resource devoted to finding untapped diverse talent to serve on corporate boards. The Diverse Director DataSource, known as “3D,” will offer shareowners, companies and other organizations a facility from which to recruit individuals whose experience, skills […]
The Airgas situation demonstrates that continued investor engagement is needed in order to assert shareholder power in the hostile takeover setting. Popular perception holds that classified boards and poison pills are both in sharp decline, and there is some truth to this notion at large-cap US firms. However, nearly 90% of US firms have charter […]
The two big items on the governance proposals front this year, according to The Corporate Library are, management proposals: the advisory vote on executive compensation (SOP), and the advisory vote on the frequency of the advisory vote (SWOP) So far, only two companies have received majority votes against approval of executive pay, those at Jacobs […]
Corporate Governance Research Reports. A new report from The Corporate Library found that the value of CEO perquisites at S&P 500 firms declined by a median of 18% in 2009. Most notable was a clear drop in the number of CEOs who received tax gross-ups. The report titled, “The Corporate Library’s 2010 CEO Pay Survey,” […]
Bill Baue and Marcy Murninghan have authored a recent working paper that deserves wide circulation and thoughtful consideration. The Accountability Web: Weaving Corporate Accountability and Interactive Technology can be downloaded from the website of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Since I’m trying to get you to read the […]
The Corporate Library has a new free report well worth downloading, Ten Myths About Sustainability Reporting. Kimberly Gladman explains how the UN’s GRI has become mainstream. According to SIRAN, almost all S&P 100 companies disclose some sustainability informaon either in reports or on their websites. UNI’s principle to “seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the […]
I see from Alcoa’s 8-K filing, that William Steiner’s proposal to end supermajority requirements won 68%. Last year, a similar proposal won 73% but this year management put their own proposals on the proxy, so some just voted for their proposals to end supermajority requirements in three areas. Management’s highest proposal won 736,143,769 votes, with […]
Research on the relationship of governance ratings systems to investment performance has shown mixed results, and the significance of particular governance features to equity returns is widely debated. A recent study by The Corporate Library suggests their ratings system, focused on the identification of agency problems rather than supposed best practices, can contribute significantly to […]
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 […]
I don’t get out to attend many annual meetings but I would like to encourage anyone who does to report on what happened. Matthew Rafat, who writes for Seeking Alpha, is the only one I know of who routinely writes up his impressions of these events. On April 14, Rafat wrote Notes From the 2010 […]
Median total annual compensation for North American CEOs declined for the second straight year, according to a preliminary CEO pay survey from The Corporate Library. The study analyzed CEO compensation data for fiscal 2009 drawn from 823 proxy statements filed in the United States between July 1, 2009, and March 25, 2010. The report titled […]
The Corporate Library Blog today carries a great post, Inflated CEO pay at Goodyear Tire. Good puns and even better information on CEO Robert J. Keegan’s “maximum payout for a net loss.” Mr. Keegan received four separate stock option grants. The largest of the four market-priced grants, almost 500,000 of them, was at $4.81. Less […]
Senator Dodd finally introduced his bill. I’m sure it will get a massive coverage and comment. I will have little to add. Find a quick overview at The Corporate Library (Dodd’s Bill, 3/15/10). The Dodd Bill: Weighing In at a Portly Six Pounds, by Broc Romanek at TheCorporateCounsel.net/Blog provides the best guide I’ve seen. However, […]
The Corporate Library announced a new enhancement to its Board Analyst® product: the ability to visually flag specific areas of potential concern for individual directors. (‘Director Flags’ Zero In On Potential Areas of Concern for Individual Board Members, The Corporate Library Blog, 3/8/10) With the end of “broker voting” for directors and the adoption by […]
“Bank of America persuaded the SEC to drop “proxy access” provision as they negotiated a $150 million settlement of a lawsuit tied to the takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co… The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 3 million companies, has said “activist shareholders” would use proxy access to hijack elections to pursue […]
Frank G. Zarb, Jr., a Partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, and John Endean, President of the American Business Conference, raise an important topic in a recent post to the HLS Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (Restoring Balance in Proxy Voting: The Case For “Client Directed Voting,” 1/14/2010). Unfortunately, their solution would likely […]
A new white paper, “Why the PRI Is Not Just PR,” is available as a free download from The Corporate Library’s website. The United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), launched in 2006, have been endorsed by more than 670 asset owners, money managers, and investment service providers who have pledged to incorporate environmental, social, […]
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., trying to show it is responsive to public pressure over its pay, said Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein would get a $9 million bonus for 2009, a fraction of the $68.5 million payout he got in 2007. (Goldman Bows on CEO Pay, WSJ, 2/6/10) My heart bleeds for him but […]
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 […]
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 […]
Gretchen Morgenson’s What Iceberg? Just Glide to the Next Boardroom (12/26/09) tells of directors who were supposedly minding the store as disaster struck at companies like Countrywide Financial, Washington Mutual or Fannie Mae and how many have moved on to other boardrooms. Morgenson’s article implied that shareowners should vote them out at their new companies. […]
Rank Fund Family Score 1 (tie) Templeton 7 1 (tie) Oppenheimer 7 3 (tie) T. Rowe Price 7.67 3 (tie) AIM 7.67 5 (tie) Schwab 8 5 (tie) JP Morgan 8 7 Janus 9 8 American Century 10.67 9 Legg Mason 11 10 Federated 11.33 11 Franklin 11.67 12 Morgan Stanley 13 13 Van Kampen […]