Evelyn Y. Davis: Gadfly Extraordinaire and Self-Styled “Queen of the Corporate Jungle” Passes Away on November 30, 2018 at the Age of 88
One of the most complex, contentious, egotistical, infuriating and relentless people – and in many ways one of the saddest people on the corporate scene – due, perhaps, to her terrible experiences as a Holocaust survivor, which were rarely mentioned until late in her life…
People: 2019 Q1
George H. Beehler, a longtime printing salesman at Security Bank Note Company – who was lucky enough to retire when stock certificates were still a big business – passed away on March 26 at the age of 92. George was one of the longest-serving members of the old Corporate Transfer Agents Association – and he remained active until fairly recently in its new incarnation as the Shareholder Services Association as well. According to SSA guru Jimmy Smith,
Is Glass Lewis Adding Proxy Solicitation to its Expanding Private “Access” Services?
That’s the allegation from our friend and frequent noisemaker Gary Lutin, following the announcement of a new service, posted to the Harvard Governance Blog by Katherine Rabin, Glass, Lewis & Co., on Sunday, March 31, 2019…just in time for Lutin’s April Fool’s Day re-post and riposte.
Board Portals: Time for a Fresh Look, We Say
Two developments this quarter convinced us that companies should be taking a fresh look at the Board Portals they are using…and how, exactly, Directors are thinking about them…and using them…or not….
Big Transformations in the Employee Stock Ownership World… Including A Quick “Who’s Who” Analysis
We literally jerked to attention when we saw the news on page-one of the WSJ that Morgan Stanley is acquiring Solium Capital, Inc. – a Canadian firm “which manages the stock that employees receive as part of their pay”… for a whopping $900 million … “the largest takeover by any Wall Street firm since the [financial industry] crisis.”
A Few “Early Returns” From the Annual Meeting Front… And Maybe A Late-Breaking Shocker
Let’s start with the potential shocker: Just as we were locking up this issue came news from Vanguard, which is rolling out a new policy to vote in most cases against directors who hold two or more board seats in addition to their own company’s seat…starting now. We haven’t seen firm numbers yet on just how many director candidates will be affected – but we guess there will be a lot.
Transfer Agency Fees: Are You Paying High 20th Century Fees for Low 21st Century Activities … And For Things You Don’t Need?
Right now, most of our readers are up to their eyeballs in Annual Meeting-related activities…So it might seem weird to run this article right now.
An Update on What’s Up – And What’s New – In the Hurley-Burley Transfer Agent World
Ordinarily, we lead off the 1st quarter issue with our “Early Returns” from the Annual Meeting front. But since our last update on the Transfer Agency world in our year-end Special Supplement - focusing on “Transforming Shareholder Relations” - there has been an...THE HOTTEST NEW ISSUES ON ACTIVISTS’ 2019 MEETING AGENDAS
The number-one new issue for issuers to focus on as they prepare for their 2019 proxy disclosures, and their all-important “early engagement” activities is - and we say this with very mixed emotions - your company’s management of “Human Capital.” On the one hand, the...People: 2018Q4
Donna Ackerly, who had, for many years, been one of the busiest, most popular and most client-oriented people at Georgeson, has signed-on as a Senior Vice President - Business Development at Laurel Hill Advisors. We are so happy for Donna, and for Laurel Hill as well,...Transformations in the Transfer Agency World
An Update on the Number-One Question Your Editors Get: “What’s Up With All Those Transfer Agents?” The Transfer Agency industry, as most long-term readers know, has been undergoing a rapid and rather massive transformation for well over a decade now. The latest view...Maybe the Biggest Breakthrough Ever, We Say, To Increase Retail Investor Voting
In mid-November, Broadridge Financial Solutions announced that big retail broker Raymond James Financial is all set to effect “mobile integration of shareholder voting…to enhance the investor experience…and simplify shareholder voting” for the upcoming...The Top-Three Things You Should Fear to Hear at Your 2019 Meeting of Shareholders
If there is one thing that will strike fear into the heart and mind of an unprepared Meeting-Chair, it is this question from the floor: “Who counted those votes, Madam Chairman”…and secondly, “how do we know the results are correct?” Your editor-in-chief has heard...Star Journalists Celebrate the End of Annual Meeting Season
Phong Bui, co-founder of art and culture journal The Brooklyn Rail, M-C Jerry Saltz, Pulitzer Prize winning writer and Senior Art Critic at New York Magazine - and world-renowned journalist Jane Pauley, the evening’s honoree - flanked by two of the Benefit...THE BIGGEST AND BEST THING WE SAW THIS SEASON: A 41% INCREASE IN RETAIL INVESTOR VOTING PARTICIPATION…FOLLOWING AN 8% INCREASE LAST YEAR… AT BANK of AMERICA
Given the slow but steady falloff in individual investor voting that we have been witnessing since the 1970s, it’s hard for us to overstate what a huge and important development this is. We were mightily impressed with last year’s addition of 50,000 new retail voters,...People: 2018Q2
Abby Cowart has resigned as Executive Director of the Shareholder Services Association (SSA) as of June 13, 2018, after a highly successful three-year tenure, marked by the launch of a Certification Program for Shareholder Relations Professionals and vigorous new...On the Supplier Scene: 2018Q2
Computershare is set to purchase Equatex – “a Zurich based employee share plans administrator with a strong business across Europe [whose] 220+ employees provide a range of employee share plans administration solutions for over 160 clients…
AUDITOR RATIFICATION…THE NEXT BIG THING IN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE? WE HAVE A BETTER IDEA
We have been saying for five or more years now that treating the vote on ratifying the selection of auditors as a “routine matter” is increasingly absurd, in light of the seemingly never-improving and clearly unsatisfactory number of audit failures reported each year by the PCAOB.
ONCE OVER IN APRIL, SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS ARE YEAR-ROUND EVENTS THESE DAYS
Ten years or so ago, when most public companies used the calendar-year as their fiscal year, virtually 100% of shareholder meetings were over by April 31st.
WANT TO GET YOUR BLOOD A’BOILIN’?? READ WHAT UK DIRECTORS HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE SHORTAGE OF WOMEN LEADERS ON BOARDS…AND IN THE WORKPLACE
“All the ‘good’ women have already been snapped up.” “I don’t think women fit comfortably into the board environment” “There aren’t that many women with the right credentials and depth of experience to sit on the board—the issues covered are extremely complex” “Most...THE NIFTIEST NEW THING WE SAW THIS SEASON: ONLINE – AND MOBILE – “MEET THE BOARD” FEATURES
It’s been a while since we last reviewed EZOnlineDocuments web and mobile-optimized proxy statements…but we were absolutely bowled-over by the quick demo we saw at the Society conference this year…
OUR PREDICTIONS RE: THE 2018 MEETING SEASON WERE SQUARELY ON THE MONEY: HERE’S OUR ANALYSIS OF TOP DEVELOPMENTS – AND OUR ADVICE TO ISSUERS ON PREPARING FOR 2019
Our 2017 prediction that 2018 would indeed turn out to be “the year of the women” – at long last – was happily proven true, at least in the USA…
PEOPLE: MORE MOVES OF KEY STAFFERS IN PROXY-LAND; MORE TO COME, WE PREDICT
September was a very busy month for key providers and several key staffers in Proxy-Land, starting with an announcement from Morrow Sodali
COMING SOON: “VOTES HAVE VALUE”
A plain-English primer on exactly HOW shareholder votes have value…on WHY individual investors should make time to cast their votes….
