The coronavirus pandemic has turned investor dialogue upside down ascompanies go dark on negotiations and investors reset priorities at the start of an unprecedented proxy season.
Shareholders have filed a host of proposals for the 2020 proxy season, once again largely focusing on environmental and social issues. Indeed, issues such as climate change, gender pay equity and political spending are cropping up in proxies, although sources say investors may be hesitant to vote for proposals as companies focus efforts on navigating the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a recent report from Proxy Impact and As You Sow, proponents filed 429 proposals on ESG issues for the 2020 proxy season as of February 21, up from 366 last year. Most of the proposals (53%) involved social issues; 31%, environmental issues; and 16%, governance or other issues.
However, it is early in the season. Only 96 proposals appeared in proxy statements at 59 Russell 3000 companies as of April 3, according to data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ. Of those, 24 have gone to a vote and four have passed.
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