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…
Tag: activism
Investor Engagement and Activist Shareholder Strategies
A Deloitte survey of CFOs of US public companies conducted in 2015 identified the following trends. Our experience indicates these trends still hold true, and in some cases, they have intensified. Just under three-quarters of US public companies surveyed experienced shareholder activism, most often in the form of direct communication to management or the board….
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…
The Prescience of 5% of Investors: A Monsanto Case Study
Even though a proposal receives only a fraction of shareholder support, it may still be the best available opportunity to bring more foresight to investors, board, and management on an issue that may eventually prove costly to a company. Only a small portion of investors may be exercising prescience on risk management or governance issues…
Wachtell Lipton Discusses the State of Play in Activism | CLS Blue Sky Blog
The most powerful law firm representing corporate management gives their perspective (sometimes self-serving as exaggerating threats leads to higher fees) on the challenges/threats faced by corporate insiders: The threat of activism remains high, and has become increasingly global. Activist assets under management remain at elevated levels, encouraging continued attacks on many large successful companies in…
Unilever U-turn shows how angry shareholders are securing change | Financial Times
It took just a few days after Unilever made public its proposal to move its headquarters to the Netherlands for the company to be faced with its first obstacle.Iain Richards, head of responsible investment at Columbia Threadneedle and one of the consumer goods company’s biggest shareholders, lambasted Unilever in a rare public statement in March,…
Can Shareholders Make Guns and Gun Companies Safer?
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow writes on Medium: In May, I wrote about shareholder initiatives at gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Company to improve the board of directors and get better information about safety measures and mitigation of harm associated with company products, including efforts to improve gun safety and assessment of the corporate reputational…
Main Street Investors: Now They’re Just Desperate (Are There Too Few IPOs?)
The Main Street Investors Coalition can no longer argue that they have any connection to Main Street or investors as we have repeatedly made clear in articles, news stories, blog posts, and responses to their tweets, that they are a fake dark money front group funded by corporations, including the National Association of Manufacturers, and…
KraftHeinz Becomes Fourth Big Company to Agree to As You Sow’s Request for Action and Timeline on Recyclable Packaging — As You Sow
Following engagement with As You Sow, food and beverage giant KraftHeinz, the third largest U.S. food and beverage company, has committed to make 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025….KraftHeinz is the fourth largest consumer goods company to make a significant commitment to recycling packaging following engagement with As You Sow. In…
Starbucks to Eliminate Plastic Straws Following Strong Investor Support for As You Sow Proposal — As You Sow
Most news reports about the announcement from Starbucks that they will stop using single-use plastic straws overlooked the importance of a shareholder proposal on the issue: As You Sow is pleased to learn via news reports of Starbucks’ commitment to phase out plastic straws at all stores by 2020. A shareholder proposal filed by As…
