Category: institutional investors
Boaz Weinstein Sues BlackRock Alleging Corporate-Governance Failings – WSJ
Saba Capital Management, a $1.7 billion hedge fund run by Boaz Weinstein, has sued BlackRock Inc., BLK 1.63% arguing the world’s largest asset manager has moved to block outsiders from gaining board seats at three of its funds and effecting change.In two lawsuits filed late Tuesday, Saba alleged that BlackRock’s actions run counter to the…
Index Funds May be Able to Vote 41% of S&P 500 Shares in the Future | Corporate & Securities Law Blog – JDSupra
Research by Lucian A. Bebchuk, Harvard Law School, and Scott Hirst, Boston University School of Law, indicates three key index fund advisors could cast 34% of votes in the next decade at S&P 500 companies, and about 41% of votes at S&P 500 companies in two decades. The key index fund managers are BlackRock, Vanguard,…
Financial Advisor IQ – Broker-Dealers Rebuked for “Web of Toxic Incentives” in Congressional Hearing on Reg BI
The broker-dealer business model is broken and won’t be fixed by the SEC’s proposed Regulation Best Interest. That was the picture painted by all but one of five witnesses called to testify on the effectiveness of the proposed rule at a Congressional hearing Thursday.“The brokerage business model, with all of these and other perverse incentives,…
Mutual funds start to put their mouth where their money is | Reuters
Corporate America’s biggest shareholders have traditionally been content with sharing their views on a company’s strategy privately with management. But now some mutual funds are beginning to rethink their stance, amid pressure from investors for them to justify the fees they charge and a push to boost the performance of their holdings. Wellington Management Company…
Jim McRitchie’s Draft Petition to the SEC on Disclosure of Proxy Votes
Jim McRitchie (jm@corpgov.net) is seeing comments on his draft rulemaking petition for real-time disclosure of proxy votes. Corporations have facilitated the most dynamic economic growth in history. Addressing adverse externalities, like dark money and climate change, has been hampered by dispersed ownership. Mechanisms are needed to define common values and increase individual empowerment within corporate dominated…
CII Spring Meeting 2019
The Council of Institutional Investors meets in Washington DC every spring, and as fascinating and timely as the presentations and panels are, what goes on behind the scenes is increasingly even more significant. VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow made presentations at two of these behind-the-scenes events, discussing buybacks with members of the CII board and…
Shareholder activism is on the rise, but companies are fighting back – CNN
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow is quoted in a CNN story about shareholder activism and the way corporate executives are pushing back, including the fake front groups ACCF and Main Street Investors Coalition. Leveraging shareholder votes for environmental and social ends isn’t new, but such resolutions have been on the rise in recent years. Shareholders…
PIC struggles to improve quality of corporate governance
South Africa’s PIC pension fund adjusts its corporate governance priorities (emphasis added): More than half of the companies in which the PIC has a substantial investment ignore its views on the need for independent auditors.Almost half of them also ignore its view on what is, or is not, an acceptable remuneration policy, and a substantial…
