Newsletters

This proxy season marked a pronounced shift in the corporate governance landscape with over three dozen companies adopting or committing to adopt proxy access rights, which allow shareholders to nominate board candidates and have their nominees appear in company proxy statements. Turbo-charged by a campaign led by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, over 100 …

2015 Proxy Season Review (Aug. 2015) Read More »

This year’s annual meeting season presents a variety of challenges for issuers. Foremost is a sweeping campaign spearheaded by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer advocating proxy access rights, which would allow eligible shareholders to include their own board nominees in company proxy statements. While this will be the pivotal issue of 2015, the proponents …

2015 Proxy Season Preview (April 2015) Read More »

This article discusses the proxy advisors’ policy revisions related to governance and environmental/social issues and Alliance Advisors’ view of their potential implications for issuers. We will be issuing a separate review of their policy updates on compensation in a subsequent article.   Download Now

As 2014 winds down, fall annual meetings are setting the stage for an active 2015 proxy season. During the second half of 2014, shareholder proponents continued honing key proposal topics, such as proxy access, while regrouping for next year’s campaigns on climate change and campaign finance. Hedge funds have also been undeterred—and winning investor backing—in …

Fall Season Offers Glimpses into 2015 (Oct. 2014) Read More »

The 2014 annual meeting season continued to reflect the robust engagement efforts between issuers and investors that have been underway in recent years. Although the volume of shareholder resolutions appearing in corporate proxies, as well as the number receiving majority support, was closely in line with the first half of 2013, shareholder advocacy for traditional …

2014 Proxy Season Wrap-Up (July 2014) Read More »

As proxy season begins anew, issuers will need to stay attuned to the shifting and sometimes disparate priorities of shareholder activists, proxy advisors, and institutional investors. With many governance best practices reaching a broader spectrum of companies, proponents are turning their attention to areas of unfinished business, while proxy advisors are scoping out future policy …

Proxy Season Preview: 2014 Shareholder Initiatives (March 2014) Read More »

With the new year underway, proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis have now released their final policy changes and clarifications for the 2014 proxy season.   Download Now

ISS’s recently announced 2014 policy changes for U.S. companies are relatively limited in scope compared to past years. The updates, which are largely unchanged from the draft policies released in November, will take effect for annual meetings beginning in February 2014.More substantive policy revisions, however, are already in the works for the 2015 proxy season. …

ISS Unveils 2014 Policy Updates and More Read More »

During this year’s annual meeting season, issuers experienced better outcomes on say on pay (SOP) and shareholder resolutions, underpinned by a high degree of engagement and responsiveness to past votes. With SOP in its third year, companies addressed many of investors’ and proxy advisors’ pivotal compensation concerns, which was reflected in a modest improvement in …

Newsletter: Key Issues from the 2013 Proxy Season (Aug. 2013) Read More »

The 2013 annual meeting season may lack the drama of last year’s Occupy protests and impending presidential election but it will still have its share of challenges for issuers. Revisions to proxy advisors’ pay models and peer groups are already spawning another round of supplemental proxies on Say-on-Pay (SOP), while threats of compensation disclosure strike …

2013 Proxy Season Preview: Key Shareholder Proposals (March 2013) Read More »