An ISS analysis of shareholder meetings held from January 1 through June 30 shows a big drop in Shareholder Proposal Submissions for the 2025 Annual Meeting Season: 782 submissions at Russell 3000 companies – down sharply from 906 in ’24 – with nearly a quarter of them withdrawn – vs. only 15% in ’24 – “likely a result of the SEC’s Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14M (CF) issued in February, which requires proponents to demonstrate that the topic of a shareholder proposal is significant and economically relevant to the company” as ISS opined – and we’d agree.
No big surprise in today’s highly politicized environment, “Environmental and social-related proposals saw the sharpest drop in volume, while so-called “anti-ESG” resolutions surged to a record 122 submissions. Governance-related requests remain the most prevalent type expected to go to a vote” – and we foresee another drop in 2026 as more and more companies adopt “best practices” – and negotiate more effectively with proponents, as we feel sure many will.
“Our latest analysis suggests that proponents are shifting tactics and are becoming more selective both in terms of topics and targets when making the case for environmental and social initiatives at companies,” the study notes… “The limited success of these proposals in recent years, improvements in corporate disclosures, and increased pushback against environmental and social initiatives likely all contributed to the drop in submissions” the survey noted, and we’d agree here too.
As the survey also notes, “Although overall proposal volume has declined, there are several companies with a large number of shareholder proposals on the ballot. Alphabet leads the pack with 12 to be voted on at its June 6 annual meeting… followed by Meta Platforms at nine, Amazon.com at eight, and Walmart and Berkshire Hathaway both with seven shareholder resolutions on the ballot.” Here, we think the “piling on” is aimed at companies with the largest shareholder bases, hoping to maximize visibility: But why they would focus so much on companies that turned in record-breaking results and all-time stock-price highs continues to amaze us. We do think, however, that activists have been waking up a bit – and aiming their big guns at companies that have had performance issues or “employee issues” – but they still have a lot to learn about winning votes. Why would any intelligent investor vote against the Berkshire Hathaway or Apple recommendations to vote no??? And what good is “high visibility” when you end up getting trounced at the polls?… DUH!
Meanwhile, the survey notes, “shareholder support for executive pay packages has cooled slightly, as median CEO pay reaches an all-time high for both S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies…” Here, we think that 2026 will be a more difficult one, given the all-time highs in pay – especially relative to “average pay.” When the CEO of Taser becomes the highest paid exec in America, something strikes us as being way off base.
The bottom line for issuers: Expect a walkover, as usual. If you’ve had a good year, but load your proxy statement for bear if you have a bad one, as many more companies are likely to have in 2026 – especially if big tariffs kick in.
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