Timely Takes Podcast: Georgeson & Computershare on the 2026 Proxy Season

Chris Hayden is President, Georgeson Advisory, North America and Meighan McGowan is Head of Business Development, Computershare Investor Engagement, North America.

Topics:

1. The impact of new SEC guidance on the 2026 proxy season
2. Shareholder proposal trends in 2026
3. Strategy shifts at the proxy advisors
4. Asset managers moving toward AI-driven voting platforms
5. Exxon's "retail voting program"
6. Expanded pass-through voting
7. How Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street are bifurcating their proxy voting teams
8. DEXIT and Texas
9. Tips for companies navigating the trends towards a decentralized voting ecosystem, investor-specific rather than advisor-defined voting and more variation in engagement styles

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The views set forth in the podcast are the speakers' personal views and do not necessarily reflect those of their firm, company, institution, other organizations, or any of the clients with which they are associated. The Securities and Exchange Commission disclaims responsibility for any private publication or statement of any SEC employee or Commissioner. This podcast expresses the speakers' views and does not necessarily reflect those of the Commission, the Commissioners or other members of the staff.