My conclusion is that C.E.O.s have performed an artful head fake with their high-sounding promises, deflecting public attention from the Roundtable’s decades-long advocacy of measures to weaken regulations and reduce the already attenuated power of shareholders. What you won’t find in the Roundtable’s statement is this: For-profit companies exist to serve their owners, not their…
Category: institutional investors
State Street CEO Takes the Long View on Shareholder Activism – WSJ
As CEO of State Street Corp., STT 2.10% Ronald O’Hanley is on the front lines of shareholders’ push to bring change to corporate boardrooms. State Street, STT 2.10% whose money-management arm oversees $2.7 trillion in assets, has amassed significant governance power in recent years as investors shifted more money into the lower-cost, index-tracking funds it…
DOL Quietly Joins SEC’s Shareholder Voter Suppression Effort
Here is the latest from the DOL in intentionally bureaucratic gobbledygook: This deregulatory action would modernize fiduciary practices related to the voting rights associated with ERISA plan investments and harmonize those regulations with the requirements of other regulators. The goal of this proposal would be to protect the interests of participants and beneficiaries by: (1)…
Wake Up Call for Corporate Leaders on ESG, Sustainability, and Engagement
Edelman’s 2019 “Trust Barometer” shows a strong swing toward ESG and sustainability from investors. We believe the first of their conclusions listed below is misleading. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that sustainability by its very definition is not a trade-off for returns; it is essential for returns, both present value and long-term, as the…
European investors target lavish executive pay in US
Pay deals for top company bosses in the US face mounting opposition from some of Europe’s most influential investors even as their large American counterparts continue to provide solid support for exorbitant executive remuneration packages. The investment arms of UBS, Axa, Legal & General, BNP Paribas along with APG, Europe’s largest pension fund, voted against…
Shareholder Rights Directive II fact sheet – GOV.UK
New guidelines for UK fund managers: Occupational pension schemes are required to document and disclose online their policy on engaging with investee companies, their investment strategy and their arrangements with asset managers. The Pensions Regulator will update their guidance with regards to engagement, investment strategy and asset manager arrangements. Trustees have an important role to…
Findings of the ISS Global Survey 2019
The findings of the annual ISS survey on investor priorities: Board Gender Diversity: Majorities of both investors (61 percent) and non-investors (55 percent) agreed with the view that board gender diversity is an essential attribute of effective board governance regardless of the company or its market. Approximately 27 percent of investors tended to favor a market-by-market…
Big US sustainable funds fail to support ESG shareholder proposals | Financial Times
Big US fund managers that have promoted their credentials in tackling sustainability issues have done little to support environmental and social shareholder proposals, their voting records reveal. During the 2019 shareholder voting season, funds labelled by BlackRock, JPMorgan Asset Management and Vanguard as sustainable frequently sided with a company’s management and against shareholder proposals on…
Why Isn’t Your Mutual Fund Sticking Up for You?
Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. and Harvard Kennedy School professor Antonio Weiss want mutual funds to consider the same long-term issues raised in the BRT stakeholder statement: Growing inequality and stagnant wages are forcing a much-needed debate about our corporate governance system. Are corporations producing returns only for stockholders? Or are they…
Executive Compensation: The Role of Public Company Shareholders
Barbara Novick of BlackRock, Inc., one of the largest and most powerful institutional investors in the world, wrote about CEO pay and the role of shareholders. Of particular note is her assessment of proxy advisors, making it clear that proxy advisor clients appreciate the analysis and recommendations but have their own views. Proxy advisors are…
