A group of 64 investors holding $9.8 trillion in assets under management this month formed an initiative aimed at companies with a high water footprint to pressure them on valuing and reducing the material, financial risks linked to water and, in turn, to better guard global freshwater resources. The investor group, led by Ceres, plans…
Plastic use and the risks associated with it are garnering more heat from stakeholder groups, including shareholders, the federal government, the United Nations and ESG accounting standard setters, which have targeted single-use plastics. Boards should ensure that appropriate internal stakeholders are prepared for increased focus on the issue, which has generated popular shareholder proposals this…
California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Company recently published a climate strategy report that highlights a new category of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that the company calls Scope 4. According to PG&E, the category accounts for the emissions it enabled its customers to reduce. “As a utility that provides gas and electric service to millions…
Roughly a dozen S&P 500 companies expanded the size of their boards during the past three months in order to recruit new directors at companies including Danaher, General Mills, Medtronic and Discover Financial Services. The data comes from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ. The expansion continues a trend of the past few years in which…
Following two years of expansive board recruitment, CEO succession and leadership challenges, boards are adjusting pay for lead directors to accommodate the increased time commitment. …According to reports from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ, roughly two dozen boards in the Russell 1000 granted raises to lead directors. Those companies include Amgen, Avalara, Baker Hughes, Carlyle…
The number of shareholder proposals requesting the ability to call a special meeting appears to have almost doubled this proxy season, according to new data from shareholder services provider Georgeson. The spike in proposals related to special meetings reflects continued efforts by shareholders to make it easier to have more of a say on certain…
Directors are approving pay raises for board leaders as investor scrutiny intensifies and as competition for new board members and leadership talent grows fiercer. Dozens of Russell 1000 companies opted to increase premiums paid to non-executive board chairs and lead directors in the past year, some even doubling retainers, according to pay data from public…
The number of CEOs in the Russell 3000 making more than $100 million in total compensation has spiked over the past two years, according to data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ. For 2021, 15 such compensation plans have been disclosed in proxy statements thus far, led by automated digital marketing company The Trade Desk…
The climate-change related shareholder proposals popping up in 2022 proxies are far more prescriptive or “constraining” than the ones BlackRock supported last year, the asset manager said in a report earlier this month, noting they “may not promote long-term shareholder value.” Sources say that’s a key reason many climate proposals have struggled to get the…
Several climate-related shareholder proposals went to a vote last week at S&P 500 companies, and most of them failed to garner more than 15% of the vote. While it is unusual for first-time proposals to win high levels of support at annual meetings, the focus on environmental issues among investors and proxy advisors had suggested…