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There has been a lot of recent discussion about the merits of shareholder proposal reform.  As this Davis Polk blog notes, the US Chamber of Commerce has submitted a proposal to tighten the eligibility criteria & other aspects of the shareholder proposal process – and SEC Chair Jay Clayton has expressed concern about “the cost[s] that the quiet shareholder, the ordinary shareholder, bear for idiosyncratic interests of others.”

In a recent meeting with Chair Clayton, the Council of Institutional Investors & other investor reps said that concerns about shareholder proposal “overload” are simply inaccurate. According to a series of FAQs provided by the CII, most companies don’t receive a single shareholder proposal:

On average, 13% of Russell 3000 companies received a shareholder proposal in a particular year between 2004 and 2017 according to the ISS database. In other words, the average Russell 3000 company can expect to receive a proposal once every 7.7 years. For companies that receive a proposal, the median number of proposals is one per year.

Large companies were far more likely to receive shareholder proposals. According to the FAQs, S&P 500 companies received 77% of the 852 proposals received by Russell 3000 companies. In contrast, only 3.7% of shareholder proposals were submitted at companies with a market cap under $1 billion.

Annual Meetings: Making Yours “Shareholder-Oriented”

In addition to the proposals submitted at your annual meeting, CII has some ideas about how you should conduct the meeting. Here’s a recent CII memo with some thoughts about how make your next meeting “shareholder-oriented.” Here’s an excerpt with some thoughts on conducting the meeting:

Rigid adherence to a brief and arbitrary meeting schedule (e.g. precisely one hour) may cut off responses to substantive questions, raising particular concern if the meeting begins with an extensive presentation from management, or if one general type of question appears to be favored and directors seem to sidestep other questions that are perhaps uncomfortable but pertinent.

Some shareholders attend meetings for the chance to interact on an informal basis with company leadership after the meeting’s formal conclusion. Company leaders, including directors in attendance, should welcome these opportunities for casual engagement by remaining for a limited period after the meeting has adjourned.

ISS Issues Draft Policies: Poison Pills, Director Compensation & Gender Pay

Yesterday, ISS released draft policy changes for comment in 13 areas spanning the globe (based on these survey results from constituents) – the deadline for comment is November 9th. It’s expected that ISS will release its final policies in late November (although burn rate thresholds & pay-for-performance quantitative concern thresholds are typically announced through updated FAQs in mid-December; here’s info about the ISS policy process).

These are the three main areas up for consideration in the US:

1. Director Elections – Non-Employee Director Pay
2. Gender Pay Gap Proposals
3. Director Elections – Poison Pills

– For the director compensation draft policy, here’s how Wachtell Lipton describes it: “ISS states that median pay for non-employee directors has increased every year since 2012 and was approximately $211,000 in 2016. In response to alleged “extreme pay outliers,” ISS is proposing to recommend voting against or withholding votes from members of board committees responsible for setting non-employee director compensation when there is a “pattern” (over two or more consecutive years) of “excessive” non-employee director pay without a compelling rationale or other mitigating factors. Among other things, ISS is seeking feedback regarding the circumstances for which large non-employee director pay magnitude would merit support on an exceptional basis, e.g., one-time onboarding grants for new directors.”

– For the gender pay gap draft policy, here’s how Wachtell Lipton describes it: “ISS notes that there has been an increasing number of shareholder proposals requesting that companies report whether a gender pay gap exists, and if so, what measures will be taken to address the gap. ISS is proposing to vote case-by-case on requests for reports on a company’s pay data by gender, or a report on a company’s policies and goals to reduce any gender pay gap, taking into account the company’s current policies and disclosure related to its diversity and inclusion policies and practices, its compensation philosophy and its fair and equitable compensation practices. ISS will also take into account whether the company has been the subject of recent controversy or litigation related to gender pay gap issues and whether the company’s reporting regarding gender pay gap policies or initiatives is lagging its peers.”

– For the poison pills draft policy, here’s how Wachtell Lipton describes it: “ISS’s current policy provides that if a company maintains a long-term (>1 year) shareholder rights plan that has not been approved by shareholders, ISS will recommend voting against all nominees every year if the company’s board is classified. However, if the board is annually elected, ISS will recommend voting against the entire board once every three years.

ISS proposes changing its policy to recommend voting against all directors of such companies at every annual meeting. In addition, commitments to put a long-term rights plan to a vote the following year would no longer be considered a mitigating factor by ISS (but may still be relevant to individual shareholder voting decisions). ISS would also eliminate the exemption for 10-year rights plans adopted prior to November 2009, which would affect approximately 90 companies. ISS notes that short-term rights plans would continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but states that the updated policy would focus more on the rationale for the rights plan’s adoption than on the company’s governance and track record.”

– John Jenkins