The Optimizer’s “View From the Snake-Pit” on the 2019 Meeting Season
Most of our readers are being inundated by proxy season reviews, we know – and maybe some are sick of them by now. But given our long-term success at spotting trends you need to watch – plus the unique vantage point that comes from our Inspector of Elections business, where we and our Associates attend nearly 500 shareholder and membership association meetings each year – including a few proxy fights to boot – we feel obliged to weigh-in as usual, with our “view from the snake-pit” in 2019 and the year ahead.
Cocal-Cola Re-Institutes “Quarterly Reports to Shareholders” – In A Modern Way
We were delighted to get this link to the Coca Cola Quarterly Report to Shareholders from Karen Danielson, Coke’s incomparable Shareholder Services Manager, following the SSA discussion on “Better Communications With Shareholders.” ...Our Top Tips on Creating Written Materials That Shareholders Will Read – And Act On
Your editor-in-chief was pleased to be part of a panel at the SSA’s annual conference in July on “Communicating Effectively with Shareholders” where he focused on writing and design tips, based on his many years as a writer, designer, sender and recipient of...More Meeting News to Ponder: Three Individual Investors Submitted 37% of the 2019 Proposals Submitted by the Top-Ten Poponents
It’s easy to understand why issuers get upset about “gadflies” - and would like to see the ownership thresholds increased for submissions of shareholder proposals - and to see the actual vote-getting totals thresholds increased substantially for re-submissions. As the...The Best, Worst and Weirdest Things We’ve Seen in the 2019 Meeting Season to Date
LET’S PUT THE WORST BEHIND US FIRST: The return of those perfectly awful “floor votes” - led this season by the equally awful “Burn More Coal” lobby at meetings of at least four electric utility companies. We’ve warned annually about the foolishness of allowing...Can We Do Away With Paper Dividend Checks? Plus, Our Top 5 Ways to Get Results.
A month or so ago, Liz Dunshee, one of the three wonderful bloggers on the incomparable thecorporatecounsel.net blog, e-mailed the following question to us, that she’d received from a subscriber: “Has anyone implemented plans to eliminate (or reduce) your stock...A Call to Action: Bring Back the “Own Your Share of America” Campaign!
In mid-July, during an open Q&A session your editors attended at the SSA annual conference, this question from a member popped up on the screen: “With the number of public companies declining every year - and with the number of individual investors shrinking every...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.
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...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,...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.
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…
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….
Hot Issues for Your Annual Meeting
A transcript of TheCorporateCounsel.net’s March 2nd webcast, with experts Keith Bishop, Partner, Allen Matkins LLP, Carl Hagberg, Independent Inspector of Elections and Editor of The Shareholder Service Optimizer, Roxanne Houtman, Partner, Potter Anderson Corroon LLP, and Jill Whitney, VP – Client Services, Broadridge.
Zombies at your Shareholder Meeting?
THE SCARIEST IN-BOX ITEM SO FAR THIS YEAR
Hot Issues for Proxy Tabulation and Vote Reporting
Did you know that there are at least eight kinds of proxy tabulators out there these days?
PROXY FIGHTS SHRINK IN NUMBER…BUT THE INTENSITY GROWS BIG-TIME
The just-out issue of Broadridge’s Proxy Pulse newsletter reports that so far this year, proxy contests have decreased markedly vs. last.
MORE “RAZOR-THIN VOTING MARGINS” THAN EVER AT 2018 SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS
WITH “DIVERSITY” AND ESG ISSUES, AND MAYBE SAYS-ON-PAY COMING TO THE FOREFRONT, WE PREDICT MORE “RAZOR-THIN VOTING MARGINS” THAN EVER: WE EXPLAIN WHY – AND WHAT YOU NEED TO BE DOING NOW
Early Returns from the 2017 Meeting Season
While it’s still early-days as we write this, the 2017 season is off to something of a roaring start, with howls of protests from activist investors about “Virtual Only” shareholder meetings.
On a Happier Note Re: 2017 Annual Meetings
Some of the best materials that have crossed our desk so far
An 8-Million-Vote Margin on 2.75 Billion Votes Cast
“How Could the Inspectors Possibly Confirm That The Numbers Were Right?
Our Top 5 Tips To Widen The Margin of Victory in Close Contests
Start with a rigorous, numbers-oriented analysis of your company’s shareholder base – ninety days before the record date, and again, as of the record date.
An Update on Virtual Shareholder Meetings
A Great Thing, But Look Carefully Before You Leap
Podcast Alert: Annual Meeting Season 2026 — Expert Advice from Carl & Peder Hagberg
Carl and Peder Hagberg of The Shareholder Service OPTIMIZER join Meredith Ervine from TheCorporateCounsel.net to discuss proxy season risks, virtual meetings, and shareholder engagement for 2026.
Listen to hear their insights on this year’s annual meeting season.