Say-on-pay votes remain a critical way for shareholders to express discontent with executive compensation packages. But they also act as a barometer for shareholder dissatisfaction with the board. Gauging how investors might vote on say on pay ahead of the company’s annual meeting can help avoid an embarrassing or contentious director reelection vote or other issues that could damage a company’s standing with investors, experts say.

Indeed, oftentimes low say-on-pay support is correlated with low reelection votes for compensation committee members as well, data and other evidence shows. According to public company intelligence firm MyLogIQ, six compensation committee members from four Russell 3000 companies that failed say on pay also did not receive majority shareholder support in 2018.