Longtime proxy solicitor John Wilcox has submitted one of the most thoughtful comment on the SEC’s proxy roundtable issues. No one is more familiar with the issues raised by the current complexity of the system that provides information and voting mechanics. An excerpt: The failures of the proxy system have traditionally been blamed on back-office…
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2018 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change
415 investors representing over USD $32 trillion in assets have signed a statement calling for portfolio companies to “implement the actions that are needed to achieve the goals of the [Paris Climate] Agreement, with the utmost urgency.” They call on global leaders to: • Achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals ■ Update and strengthen nationally-determined contributions…
CII Study on Shareholder Proposal Resubmission Thresholds
CII has responded to questions about whether the current SEC rules on the level of support required to resubmit a shareholder proposal should be raised with a new study. The findings: • The vast majority of shareholder proposals satisfy the current resubmission thresholds of 3%, 6% and 10%. About 95% of proposals are eligible for…
Brunel’s Stewardship Policy
We recommend Brunel’s excellent stewardship policy as a model for institutional investors everywhere. Stewardship is defined as the job of taking care of something, such as a company or property. As investors, we use the term assets. Brunel is committed to responsible stewardship and seeks to contribute to the ‘care’ of all the assets under…
More Useless Sock Puppet Bluster from Fake Front Group Main Street Investor Coalition
Fake dark money front group Main Street Investment Coalition is really getting in a lather about the upcoming November 15 SEC Proxy Roundtable. The instantly discredited CEO-funded astroturf organization is struggling to find anyone who is not self-interested to try to make the case that the only source of truly independent research about corporate governance…
SpencerStuart Board Index 2018
The 2018 SpencerStuart Board Index has been released. Some of the highlights: S&P 500 boards appointed 428 new directors during the 2018 proxy year, the most since 2004 and an increase of 8% from 2017. » 57% of boards added at least one new director. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the incoming class come from outside…
Even ACCF’s Fancy Law Firm Can’t Muster Any Real Evidence Against Proxy Advisors
CEO funded fake dark money front group American Council on Capital Formation hired a partner at a DC law and lobbying firm, Squire Patton Boggs (actual slogan: Local connections, global influence) to produce a report on proxy advisory firms. It concludes that proxy advisory firms sometimes make mistakes and do not give the companies they…
PWC on Corporate Boards: Cyber Threats, #Metoo, Diversity, and What Shareholders Want
PWC on Corporate Boards: Cyber Threats, #Metoo, Diversity, and What Shareholders Want PWC’s annual director survey is one of our most trusted resources on corporate governance from the perspective of the boardroom, and this year’s edition has some significant findings on issues like diversity, CEO pay, climate change, cybersecurity, and the gap between what board members…
2018 Report on Corporate Political Contributions from CPA
Every year we look forward to the latest update from the Center for Political Accountability about corporate political contributions. They are one of our favorite sources for information about the use of shareholder money for campaign contributions and lobbying. This year’s study title is blunt: Collision Course: The Risk Companies Face When Their Political Spending…
More Bogus Anti-Shareholder Propaganda to Fuel the Upcoming SEC Proxy Roundtable
The SEC’s roundtable on the proxy system is scheduled for next month, and so articles that look suspiciously like plants from the CEO-funded fake dark money front group Main Street Investors Coalition are popping up like a sock puppet chorus. In Forbes, Ike Brannon, a consultant affiliated with the Koch-funded Cato Institute and member of…
