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Institutional Investor (June 10)

2022/ 06/ 13 by jd in Global News

“From 2006 to 2015, only four ESG shareholder proposals at companies in the Fortune 250 passed with majority votes. But in recent years, institutional interest in ESG proposals has undergone a dramatic transformation: From 2016 to 2021, 41 ESG shareholder proposals passed.” With ESG proposal now regularly passing, we’ve reached “a milestone for ESG integration.”

 

Financial Times (February 28)

2022/ 03/ 01 by jd in Global News

Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, “is voting against Apple’s pay policies, including $99mn in salary and bonuses for chief executive Tim Cook, part of a growing shareholder backlash against remuneration at the tech giant.” The funds rationale includes the belief that “a substantial part of annual pay should be provided in shares that are locked in for five to 10 years.”

 

Investment Week (April 27)

2017/ 04/ 30 by jd in Global News

The Swiss fund house GAM “suffered a shareholder rebellion at its annual meeting, after it attempted to raise executive pay despite making a loss last year.” Only 17.57% of shareholders voted in favor of the report on pay with a majority rejecting it. “The shareholder rebellion came after CEO Alexander Friedman’s pay package increased by more than 20% in 2016, despite profits for the year falling by a third to £120.1m from £197.8m in 2015.”

 

Bloomberg (November 10)

2016/ 11/ 11 by jd in Global News

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) proved no match for the zero lower bound. “The Bank of Japan’s recent quarterly report says, in effect, that the central bank has done all it can do to raise growth and inflation, and that fiscal policy needs to step in and help.” The BoJ already “owns more than half of the ETF shares in the whole country” and is estimated to soon “be the biggest shareholder in 55 of the 225 companies in the Nikkei index.” Other central banks will follow Japan’s retreat. “The era of bold monetary policy experimentation that began with the global financial crisis is now drawing to a close.”

 

Bloomberg (May 10)

2016/ 05/ 11 by jd in Global News

Tsuyoshi Maruki, the founder of Tokyo-based Strategic Capital Inc., “stands out like a lone wolf in Japan, where societal intolerance for aggressive shareholder campaigns has spurred a breed of friendly activists.” When persuasion fails, Maruki “turns to techniques that include banding with other investors to oust management and filing lawsuits to overhaul corporate practices in order to boost returns for his 9.7 billion yen ($90 million) fund.” Committed to improving corporate governance in Japan, Maruki is convinced his aggressive stance works.

 

Washington Post (July 11)

2012/ 07/ 14 by jd in Global News

“The eclipse of the long-term shareholder has been accompanied by the eclipse of the individual shareholder.” Over 90% of shares in U.S. companies were held by individuals in the 1950s when the average share was held 7 years. Today, it’s about 30-35% and just 6 months. Institutional investors now make up the difference, but this raises some problems. “Investment funds that hold shares in many different companies often lack the resources to focus on a single corporation’s performance.” As such, they may not be properly fulfilling their role in ensuring effective corporate governance.

 

Wall Street Journal (February 25)

2011/ 02/ 28 by jd in Global News

The Wall Street Journal applauds a new chapter of shareholder engagement. “After two decades of disappointing market performance, some Japanese institutional investors finally appear ready to reinvent themselves as advocates of higher shareholder returns and improved corporate governance.” The catalyst for the story is the new fund being established by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. and U.K.-based investment group Governance for Owners LLP (GO), which represents several large overseas pension funds. Beginning in April, the new fund will invest up to 100 billion yen in 10-30 small- and mid-cap companies with the aim of improving governance at the firms. In contrast to Steel Partners and other highly publicized activists of recent years, the new venture seeks to raise long-term value using a Japanese approach to engagement through dialogue.

 

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