Submit comments on posts through e-mail. Upcoming events I plan to attend:
Sharegate Inc., a new company that offers the investment community a modern and powerful financial social network, announced its launch recently, opening enrollment in the network to the general public.
Sharegate is an information exchange platform that connects individual and instititional investors, publicly traded companies and other special interest groups. This platform allows companies to present information, interact more directly with their shareholders and gives institutional and individual investors the opportunity to provide feedback and exchange information with these companies – and each other. According to the company’s founder, Argus Cunningham: Continue Reading →
John Chevedden, Shareowner Activist
Activist, John Chevedden pushed for Google to change its capital structure to give all shares an equal vote. Most of us own Class A stock with one vote per share. But Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, along with Chairman Eric Schmidt, control about 64% of the votes through Class B stock with 10 votes per share.
Chevedden argued the current system allows Google to use shareholders’ capital without giving them the power to hold management accountable for how they run the company. Most shareholders agree with his assessment. Consider the fact that Google insiders control about 70% of votes. Continue Reading →
Kalpona Akter, a former child worker in the Bangladesh garment industry, is now an activist for worker safety in her country. At Walmart’s 2013 Annual Shareholders Meeting, Kalpona addressed the Board of Directors and shareholders about the horrible conditions many garment workers are exposed to in Walmart’s supply chain. She called on Walmart to take action and sign the Bangladesh fire safety accord, to prevent tragedies like the recent factory fires and building collapses that claimed so many lives. Continue Reading →
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) is looking for portfolio managers. Several positions in other classifications are also listed for open testing.
The open portfolio manager positions, posted yesterday, pay $126,000 to $190,000 annually and work in asset allocation full time at the CalPERS headquarters in Sacramento. Continue Reading →
Biogen Idec (BIIB) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/12/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I checked on 6/8/2013. I voted with management 41% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Continue Reading →
Facebook Inc ($FB) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/11/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected no votes when I checked on 6/5/2013. I voted with management 9% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Senator Warren recently called on the exchanges to block companies with unequal voting structures from listing. Too bad that didn’t happen years ago.
I wish I could be in the UK for this seminar. I’d love to hear from anyone attending as to papers delivered, opinions expressed, etc.
The role of employees in corporate governance will be the subject of a forthcoming PIRC seminar taking place on 13th June. Continue Reading →
I am delighted to announce that Kalpona Akter, a former garment worker from Bangladesh who is the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, will have access to the floor of the WalMart ($WMT) annual meeting on Friday, June 7 in Bentonville, Arkansas. She has been an outspoken critic of sweatshop conditions in Bangladesh where Wal-Mart is the second largest producer. Ironically, she will be presenting my proposal to allow shareowners to call a “special meeting.” Continue Reading →
Netflix, Inc. ($NFLX) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/7/2013. I reported how I voted and why I am proposing proxy access in Netflix Needs Proxy Access – Proxy Score 10 Out of 100.
I’ll just add that so far this year, insiders of NFLX have sold approximately 635M in shares and have purchased zero shares. The stock price has risen dramatically since my wife filed har proxy access resolution last year. Hopefully, that won’t deter shareowners from voting for better corporate governance, which should help protect shareowners now and in the future. Below, I reproduce the full analysis by John Laide of proposals to be voted on at the NFLX annual Continue Reading →
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/6/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/31/2013. I voted with management 57% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Continue Reading →
Colleges and universities, philanthropic foundations, and other endowed institutional investors could see better financial returns and lower their portfolio risk by divesting from fossil fuels, according to a new report released this morning by Tellus Institute, Responsible Endowments Coalition, Sustainable Endowments Institute, and 350.org. Continue Reading →
Ken Olisa, former ENRC director, says companies claiming to adhere to the highest standards of corporate governance while in reality remaining under the control of the founding shareholders offend the basic precept of free markets — transparency. Continue Reading →
No time for my own analysis, but I though readers should be aware of this recent paper. Sharfman, Bernard S., Shareholder Wealth Maximization and its Implementation under Corporate Law (May 16, 2013). Florida Law Review, Vol. 65, No. 5 (2013). Full text available at SSRN.
Abstract: As its theoretical foundation, this article accepts shareholder wealth maximization as both the primary norm of corporate governance and the objective of corporate law. If so, then any model of corporate law must explain why courts have historically shown little interest in reviewing a Continue Reading →
Robert Monks
(Guest Post by Robert A.G. Monks) Let me tell you about something I read recently called Who Cares? Corporate Governance in Today’s Equity Markets (OECD Work Paper #8) by Mats Isaksson and Serdar Celik. Mats has been a major figure in the corporate governance movement for many years and is one of the key people in this field at OECD. I don’t know Serdar Celik as I know Mats, but the two have created an important and very thought-provoking document that you must read if you’re investing.
We’re living in a world where there are many layers between the beneficial owner who enjoys (or suffers) the consequences of how the company performs and the person with legal authority to vote. As the authors put it, “the growth of intermediation has increased the potential for misaligned incentives.” The relationship between what they call “savers” and the corporations they own passes through nominee names, it passes through custodians, it passes through various voting advisers, and at the end of the day very little remains of the legal concept of fiduciary duty. We buy into the idea when we invest but a little bit comes off at each stage and by the time you’re finished there’s nothing left. Continue Reading →
Netflix, Inc. ($NFLX) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/7/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of one fund when I checked on 5/25/2013. I voted with management only 10% of the time. View Proxy Statement. NFLX is another supposedly high-tech company with no hyperlinks in their proxy statement. In fact, they don’t even include an index. They either don’t want investors to be able find information or they just don’t care enough to bother. While the stock has risen recently, the company remains risky because of poor corporate governance. Continue Reading →
Google (GOOG) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/6/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/23/2013. I voted with management 53% of the time. View Proxy Statement.
Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime)
Continue Reading →
Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/4/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/23/2013. I voted with management 75% of the time. View Proxy Statement.
Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) I generally vote against pay packages where NEOs were paid above median in the previous year but make exceptions if warranted. According to Bebchuk, Lucian A. and Grinstein, Yaniv (The Growth of Executive Pay), aggregate compensation by public companies to NEOs increased from 5 percent of earnings in Continue Reading →
Tesla Motors (TSLA) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/4/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/26/2013. I voted with management 33% of the time. View Proxy Statement.
Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) I generally vote against pay packages where NEOs were paid above median in the previous year but make exceptions if warranted. According to Bebchuk, Lucian A. and Grinstein, Yaniv (The Growth of Executive Pay), aggregate compensation by public companies to NEOs increased from 5 percent of earnings Continue Reading →
A series of strong shareholder votes have sent a clear message that natural gas companies must do much more to address fugitive methane leakage and management. Shareholder proposals asking Houston-based Spectra Energy $SE, Tulsa-based Oneok $OKE, and Fort Worth-based Range Resources $RRC to issue reports on how they are managing high-climate-change-impact methane emissions have received favorable votes from company shareholders: 35.4%, 38.2%, and 21.7% respectively. These are the first proposals directly addressing how leaking methane affects the environmental profile of natural gas, calling on companies to disclose leakage rates and mitigation strategies. Continue Reading →
Not sure what year; probably outdated.
About a month ago, I posted a piece aimed at getting students and alumni at Harvard (and hopefully at other universities) to advocate for more democratic endowments. In my zeal to focus on endowment governance, I was far too dismissive of the movement at Harvard and hundreds of universities to divest of fossil fuels. While I still think endowment governance is central, after further examining the issue, I have come to believe divestment of fossil fuel companies is likely to be a very important part of a larger movement to ensure a salubrious planet and one which should also be compatible with more democratically governed endowments.
Perhaps explaining the evolution of my thoughts will help others have a similar conversion.
In reviewing the Investment Policy Statement of the Fair Harvard Fund, I expressed my opinion that their strong emphasis on negative screening reminded me of where SRI funds were 20 years ago (Fair Harvard Fund Makes Progress: Alternative Endowment Should Be Permanent & Democratic): Continue Reading →
There are a number of vacancies at the PRI Initiative.
As always, you can keep up to date on vacancies at the PRI by visiting their website.
• Director of Policy and Research – position summary
• European Network Manager – position summary Continue Reading →
Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (DWA) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/29/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of one fund when I checked on 5/17/2013. I voted with management 42% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
Ellie Mae Inc (ELLI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/29/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of one fund when I checked on 5/19/2013. I voted with management 40% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
Has the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) turned over a new leaf or am I only beginning to notice because they recently came out publicly agreeing with me? Three years ago a group of us petitioned the SEC to clarify that the same rules that apply to proxies also apply to voter information forms, VIFs. The group included Glyn Holton, Mark Latham, Eric M. Jackson, James P. Hawley, Andrew Williams, Andrew Eggers, Bradley Coleman and Erez Maharshak.
Recently, CII wrote to the SEC in support of that position, without explicitly citing our earlier petition. In their April 5 letter, concerned with a proposed rule’s incentives to create “enhance brokers’ internet platforms (EBIPs), CII reminded the SEC that key to the stated intent of the rule was to provide benefits to investors and corporate governance generally. Before moving forward on EBIPs, CII recommends action or clarification on the following: Continue Reading →
The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/23/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/16/2013. I voted with management 81% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/23/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/16/2013. I voted with management 69% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
Amazon.com, Inc. ($AMZN) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/23/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/16/2013. I voted with management 64% of the time. View Proxy Statement (high tech AMZN but no hyperlinked index). Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
Proto Labs Inc ($PRLB) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/23/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/15/2013. I voted with management 100% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
Alan Olsen interviewed corporate governance expert Douglas Park for his radio program, American Dreams: Keys to Life’s Success radio show. Each week expert guests join Alan as they discuss how to make businesses thrive during challenging economic times and overcoming adversity.
What is corporate governance and what should startups be doing to use it to their advantage? “Actively manage the relationship with the board” says Dr. Douglas Park or Rimon Law Group. “Prepare for board meetings, not only in terms of what’s going to go on in the board meeting but even before and after” Learn more from Dr. Park as he reviews how corporate governance can help or harm your company. Continue Reading →
Over half of sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investment industry professionals say that retail investors (65 percent) and institutional investors (53 percent) are currently expressing interest in fossil fuel-free portfolios in the face of growing signs of climate change, according to First Affirmative Financial Network’s Fossil Fuels Divestment Survey. Continue Reading →
Goldman Sachs ($GS) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/23/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/15/2013. I’ll check back and may post again on GS before the voting deadline, depending on developments. I voted with management 26% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
Juniper Networks, Inc. ($JNPR) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/21/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/13/2013. I voted with management 80% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
American Tower Corp ($AMT) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/21/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of three funds when I checked on 5/13/2013. I voted with management 100% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →
3D Systems Corporation ($DDD) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/21/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of two funds when I checked on 5/13/2013. I voted with management 90% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank are voted in favor of management’s recommendations. (See Broken Windows & Proxy Vote Rigging – Both Invite More Serious Crime) Continue Reading →