ES issues gaining more support from female fund managers February 10, 2023 Female fund managers support environmental and social (ES) proposals more than governance proposals, according to the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). ‘The Voting Behaviour of Women-Led Mutual Funds’ report revealed ES proposals are 17% more likely to receive support from women-led mutual funds. […]
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Audit-related voting dissent still rare When it comes to audit-related voting, shareholders have traditionally paid less attention to audit issues than other governance issues. Using Minerva’s VoteWatch module, this week we’re looking at two topical cases: Lonmin plc and SIG plc. At platinum mining group Lonmin plc’s 2018 AGM 49.2% of the shareholder ballot withheld […]
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Compass Group AGM: 37% dissent on “overboard” NED At FTSE 100-listed Compass Group’s 2018 AGM significant shareholder dissent of 37% was recorded on the re-election of non-executive Ireena Vittal. The dissent was due to ‘overboarding’ concerns, that is concerns that Vittal held too many other directorships such that she could not devote sufficient time to […]
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Australia’s 2017 AGM season was significantly “less tumultuous” than the 2016 season, with fewer ‘strikes’ (a 25% vote against) on remuneration reports the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) has reported. Most Australian companies hold their AGMs in October and November and the ASIC reviews the voting results from those meetings each year. The ASIC […]
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The Indian proxy season for 2017 represented a tipping point for shareholder activism, according to corporate governance advisory service, InGovern with institutional investors now prepared to take on company boards. In its overview of this year’s season, which begins in January and peaks in September in India, InGovern said the number of cases where shareholders […]
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Since announcing in June that a new mandatory auditor rotation rule would be introduced in 2023 South Africa’s Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA) has surveyed the proxy voting results in respect of auditor re-appointments this year. The IRBA said that it had found a visible trend towards voting against the reappointment of auditors. Of […]
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Investors in leading Swiss companies are increasingly prepared to vote against management, particularly over executive pay, according to research by the Ethos Foundation. Ethos, a pension fund-led responsible investment foundation shows that amongst the 200 companies comprised in the stock market index SPI, the average approval rate for items put to a shareholder vote reached […]
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News of Snap Inc’s pending IPO arrived too late for our usual weekly round-up, but no matter, now that the full implications of the disappearing photo-apps disappearing votes have started to sink in, we can take a moment to reflect on what this really means for investors and good governance. First, a quick update on […]
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Travel company, Thomas Cook received a warning on pay this week at its AGM when the voting results showed that some investors at starting to take a joined up approach to remuneration-related voting. This is a signal to all companies seeking approval for their remuneration policies and new incentive plans this year that shareholders do not […]
Read MoreA majority of Sports Direct independent shareholders remain sceptical of governance improvements at the troubled retailer and last week voted against the re-election of its chairman, Keith Hellawell. Under UK listing rules, the retailer had been forced to hold a general meeting to vote again on his reappointment after most independent shareholders voted against him at the […]
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