The study of 12 Dutch pension funds’ voting behaviour revealed 11 are sending ‘mixed’ or ‘weak’ climate signals in their voting.
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EU plans for MVR “lacking legal basis” February 3, 2023 The European Commission’s (EC’s) plans to harmonise the structure of multiple-voting rights (MVR) for SMEs have been criticised for “lacking” any legal basis. A piece on the Oxford Business Law Blog (OBLB) has disapproved of the proposals, highlighting the fact the MVR is not regulated […]
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There continued to be a focus on executive pay in 2017 by shareholders of FTSE 350 companies data from Manifest for the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) AGM voting review showed. The PLSA stated that the executive pay awards continued to be the most controversial aspect of corporate governance, with the figures of significant remuneration-related […]
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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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Manifest has released its 2018 voting policy guidelines to clients and announced changes to its research reports to reflect the latest global governance and sustainability developments. AGM reports will now provide more detail on board diversity and pay ratios while Say on Sustainability reports will reflect the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related […]
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UK pension fund trustees who want to fulfil their fiduciary duty should be able to implement their environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and challenge their investment advisers on these issues according to The Pensions Regulator (TPR). The regulator issued a range of guidance, including on investment strategy, for defined contribution schemes last year and has […]
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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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Global investment giant Blackrock has spoken out on share voting rights recently. This has become particularly controversial in the US with tech firms giving their founders’ shares preferential voting rights. For example, Snapchat listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year without giving any voting rights to the shares being floated. Meanwhile, Facebook, […]
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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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