Growing Importance of Social Media: No More Resumes
Union Square Ventures doesn’t want resumes from investment analyst applicants. Instead, the New York venture-capital firm—which has invested in Twitter, Foursquare, Zynga and other technology...
View ArticlePNBC 1st to Allow USPX Model Proxy Access Proposal
David Monier reports that his proxy access proposal, which utilized model USPX language, will be included on the proxy of the Princeton National Bancorp, Inc (PNBC). See list of other proxy access...
View ArticleCompanies Use Range of Arguments to Exclude Proxy Access Proposals
Of the 16 proxy access proposals filed by proponents in 2012 and listed on the ISS Checklist, eight are being challenged at the SEC. Ferro, Hewlett-Packard, Nabors Industries, CME Group, Pioneer...
View ArticlePushback From SEC Staff
“Stunning,” “arbitrary,” “unjustifiied” … “questionable”: these are some of the words individual shareowners are using to describe the SEC handling of six corporations’ requests to be allowed to...
View ArticleUSPX Updates Model Proxy Access Proposal
Two weeks after SEC lawyers granted six corporations approval to exclude “proxy access” proposals from their proxy materials, United States Proxy Exchange (USPX) members are already submitting an...
View ArticleWhere's the Boss? And What Counts as "Work"?
Last week the Wall Street Journal printed an article describing how CEOs around the world spend their time. The article drew on data from a larger study, the Executive Time Use Project, and relied on...
View ArticleReview: Investing in Japan
Investing in Japan by Steven Towns carries the subtitle, “There is no stock market as undervalued and as misunderstood as Japan.” Towns might be right. He guides the reader to plenty of undervalued...
View ArticleAdvice from AFL-CIO & CorpGov.net on Exec Pay & the 99%
Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO announced an update to their PayWatch website—this year’s version is called CEO Pay and the 99%. Trumka says it’s your one-stop shop for the most recent...
View ArticleFerro (FOE): Will Shareowners Vote for Change?
Ferro (FOE) is not one of the stocks in my portfolio but I did help in reviewing companies I thought were good candidates for a proxy access proposal and I did help design the proposal submitted to...
View ArticleCEO Pay Continues to Surge: Take Action by Joining USPX
According to GMI, rising share prices helped drive a 15% pay hike for CEOs in 2011, with the average compensation package hitting $5.8M. That’s on top of a 28% pay rise in 2010. Inflation was about...
View ArticleUpcoming Proxy Access Votes
Loren Steffy, of the Houston Chronicle, and Sean Quinn, of the ISS Governance Institute, had recent posts about proxy access and upcoming votes. At Hewlett Packard a shareholder access proposal was...
View ArticleWaste Connections ($WCN): How I Voted – Proxy Score 67
Waste Connections ($WCN) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/18/2012. Voting ends 5/17 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had no recommendations when I...
View ArticleJuniper Networks (JNPR): How I Voted – Proxy Score 62
Juniper Networks ($JNPR) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/22/2012. Voting ends 5/21 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had five recommendations...
View ArticleDreamworks Animation (DWA): How I Voted – Proxy Score 64
Dreamworks Animation (DWA) ($DWA) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/29/2012. Voting ends 5/28 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 4...
View ArticleValeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX): How I Voted – Proxy Score 33...
Valeant (VRX) ($VRX) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 5/30/2012. Voting ends 5/29 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 3 recommendations “from good...
View ArticleIMAX: How I Voted – Proxy Score 25
IMAX ($IMAX) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/5/2012. Voting ends 6/4 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 0 recommendations “from good causes”...
View ArticleCognizant Technology Solutions: How I Voted – Proxy Score 57
Better late than never. Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) ($CTSH) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/5/2012. Voting already ended on Moxy Vote’s proxy...
View ArticlePremiere Global Services: How I Voted – Proxy Score 11
Premiere Global Services ($PGI) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 6/13/2012. Voting ends 6/12 on Moxy Vote’s proxy voting platform, which had 3 recommendations...
View ArticleBest Broker For Obtaining Rule 14a-8 Letters: TDAmeritrade
I’ve decided to consolidate my accounts to TDAmeritrade, although I haven’t completed the process so please let me know if you think I’m making a mistake. I am an investor, not a trader, so the trading...
View ArticleCorpGov Bites
A roundup of just a few of many relevant news items worth reading. Exclusive Interview: Joseph Stiglitz Sees Terrifying Future for America If We Don’t Reverse Inequality (AlterNet.org) CEOs, boards,...
View ArticleVideo Friday: Proxy Access
Glen Schleyer and The Deal Pipeline’s David Marcus discuss how shareholder proxy access is affecting the dynamic between large long-term shareholders and boards of directors. So, proxy access should...
View ArticleProxy Access Moves Forward: Forest Labs, Medtronic & H&R Block
The cartoon at left accompanied an article entitled Where are the funds? (Pensions & Investments, 3/5/2012) P&I lamented, “instead of sitting on the sidelines, activist investors should take...
View ArticleVote Splitting: Are We Moving to a Universal Proxy?
Years ago, the DC Court’s decision to vacate the SEC’s Rule 14a-11 had me thinking of possible approaches under Rule 14a-8 but also working around the whole access issue. With regard to short slates, I...
View ArticlePershing Square's Battle Over CP Argues for Proxy Access & Alternative Proxy...
After his victory at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), Ackman claimed “Directors are sitting up more straight and reading board materials more carefully and questioning the CEO more intently. That is a...
View ArticleISS Should Reconsider Their Analysis of H&R Block Proxy Access Proposal
The influential proxy analyst, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), recommends voting against Kenneth Steiner’s proxy access proposal at H&R Block (HRB) on 9/13 because it “could undermine the...
View ArticleCisco: How I Voted – Proxy Score 83%
Cisco ($CSCO) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 11/15/2012. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I voted on 11/8/2012. I voted with...
View ArticleWalgreens (WAG): How I Voted – Proxy Score 24
Walgreens ($WAG) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 1/9/2013. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of four funds when I voted on 1/1/2012. I voted with...
View ArticleProxy Access Proposals Move Forward
On March 26, 2012, SEC staff issued their decision on a request by iRobot (IRBT) to exclude my proxy access proposal from their proxy. Although similar proposals had survived no-action requests last...
View ArticleQVB vs Proxy Exchange: Buy Votes or Assign Them?
Thanks to Broc Romanek I learned of what he termed the Wildest Idea of the Year? Creating a “Vote Buying” Framework, July 29, 2013. Here’s part of his take: Two Professors from the U. of Chicago – Eric...
View ArticleRetail Shareowners – Facilitating Votes and Activism: Part 2
In part 2 of a post on facilitating votes and activism by retail shareowners I continue to speculate on what could be done to improve the situation by recalling some of the better features of major...
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