“What Paul Ryan said is an invitation to a shareholder lawsuit,” says Nell Minow, vice-chair of ValueEdge Advisors, and a longtime shareholder rights advocate. Former House Speaker Ryan, a member of the NewsCorp board, repeatedly voiced his concern internally about the direction Fox News had taken by pushing 2020 election lies, but told an interviewer…
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow on Buybacks, the ESG Veto, and More: Motley Fool Money
Nell Minow appeared on the Motley Fool Money podcast this week to discuss buybacks, the expected veto from President Biden that will reinstate the DOL/EBSA ESG rule, and the Oscars.
Sigh. Another Example of the Ultra-Right Lies About ESG
The first rule of argument is that you have to describe the other side’s position accurately. But if the anti-ESG crowd did that, everyone would think they were crazy. And so we get a misinformation campaign and outright lies like this from the ultra-right Association of Mature American Citizens, which says its goal is “recovery…
US state pension fund hires ‘anti-woke’ manager Strive to advise on proxy voting — Responsible Investor
Many thanks to John Keenan for alerting us to this story and pointing out that the Indiana Pension Vice Chair is Brett Swanson, formerly affiliated with the fossil fuel and other corporate CEO-funded fake front group The Main Street Investors Coalition (which had no connection to Main Street, Investors, or any Coalition). Indiana’s state pension…
CII: Elects New Board, Endorses Transparency on Shareholder Proponents
The directors newly elected to the board for 2023-2024 are: Joseph Aguilar, CIO for Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs; Tracy Harris, a trustee of the District of Columbia Retirement Board; Margaret Madden, senior VP and corporate secretary at Pfizer; and Jennifer O’Dell, assistant director of corporate affairs for the Laborers’ International Union of North America. …
Vanguard step back from climate issues sparks ire from some clients
Vanguard’s recent move to distance itself from climate-conscious investing won support from anti-ESG state leaders — but the firm is now getting pushback from some of its clients. Earlier this week Vanguard received at least 1,400 copies of a form letter from the Sierra Club, signed by Vanguard investors. The letter asserts that by leaving…
Apple Inc. Allegedly Paid Tim Cook, Other Executives Too Much
Apple Inc. miscalculated the values of performance-based stock compensation for CEO Tim Cook and other executive officers, an institutional investor alleges in advance of an upcoming stockholder vote. Instead of awarding $77.5 million for several executives per fiscal year, Apple awarded about $92.7 million in restricted stock units for FY 2021 and about $94 million…
Nell Minow on Stock Buybacks in Esquire
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow is quoted in Jack Holmes’ piece about buybacks in Esquire: Executives benefit to the tune of moral hazard. Not only are options and awards a major portion of any top executive’s compensation, they often earn bonuses triggered by short-term performance. They’ve made a significant bet that the share price will…
Suddenly, Republicans Want to Rein in the Financial Sector. Wanna Guess Why? | The New Republic
From Timothy Noah (emphasis added): Biden didn’t reverse the Trump rule and rehabilitate ESG investing because Greta Thunberg asked him to. He did it because Wall Street banks asked him to. They asked because ESG is well established at this point and the financial sector can’t afford to avoid it. And while it is I…
DOJ Announces New Clawback Policies at the American Bar Association National Institute on White Collar Crime
The Justice Department has a new policy “to shift the burden of corporate malfeasance away from uninvolved shareholders onto those more directly responsible.” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a pilot program that will (1) make sure every corporate resolution involving the Criminal Division will include a requirement that the resolving company develop compliance-promoting criteria…
ValueEdge Advisors 