Kosmas Papadopoulos

ISS Discusses Director Overboarding: Global Trends, Definitions, and Impact

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In the 2019 proxy season, “overboarding” became a center-stage issue for many companies and investors. Several large asset managers, including Vanguard, BlackRock, and LGIM, enhanced their voting guidelines to apply stricter criteria, while some directors serving on multiple public company boards faced significant opposition to their elections. The idea that directors should not serve on too many boards has been a key consideration for investors for many years. The main concern for investors and companies focuses on the ability of directors to fulfill their responsibilities given the significant time commitment associated with each directorship; and as corporate governance and investment … Read more

ISS Offers Overview of Vote Requirements at U.S. Meetings

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At the general meeting of Tesla Inc. on June 11, 2019, two management proposals seeking to introduce shareholder-friendly changes to the company’s governance structure failed to pass, despite both items receiving support by more than 99.5 percent of votes cast at the meeting. To get official shareholder approval, the proposals needed support by at least two-thirds of the company’s outstanding shares. However, only 52 percent of the company’s share capital was represented at the general meeting; based on turnout alone, there was no possible way for the proposal to pass.

As strange as the voting outcome at Tesla may seem, … Read more

ISS Discusses Dual-Class Shares: Governance Risks and Company Performance

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Initial public offerings of companies with dual-class shares have made headlines in recent years. An increasing number of newly listed companies have introduced classes of stock with superior voting rights, which typically allow company founders and top executives to maintain company control even as their economic stake in the business may diminish. Dual-class companies include some of the most successful and highly-valued companies in the world, such as corporate giants Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc. (parent of Google), and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In 2019, some of the largest U.S. IPOs involved classes of stock with superior voting rights, including … Read more

ISS Discusses U.S. Board Diversity Trends in 2019

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As the U.S. annual shareholder meeting season is coming to an end, we review the characteristics of newly appointed directors to reveal trends director in nominations. As of May 30, 2019, ISS has profiled the boards of 2,175 Russell 3000 companies (including the boards of 401 members of the S&P 500) with a general meeting of shareholders in 2019. These figures represent approximately 75 percent of Russell 3000 companies that are expected to have a general meeting during the year. (A small portion of index constituents may not have a general meeting during a given calendar year due to mergers … Read more

ISS Offers Early Take on 2019 U.S. Proxy Season Vote Results

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As the busiest part of the 2019 U.S. proxy season is behind us, we take an early look at the vote results of annual general meetings convened from January to May. As of now, approximately 70 percent of Russell 3000 annual general meetings expected during the calendar year have already taken place, and the figure will rise to close to 90 percent of all calendar-year annual meetings by the end of June. In our review of the vote results for the 1,812 Russell 3000 2019 annual general meetings that took place from January to May and are available in the … Read more

ISS Discusses CEO Ownership, Corporate Governance, and Company Performance

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Ownership structure is perhaps among the most significant corporate governance factors, as it determines the balance of power within a corporation and can directly affect governance practices and company behavior. In our review of CEO ownership, we focus on corporate governance characteristics of companies with CEO ownership concentration, and we examine the effect of CEO ownership on company performance.

  • We draw a distinction between CEO ownership concentration in terms of voting power and CEO ownership in terms of a dollar value in the company’s stock. Significant ownership in value does not necessitate significant voting power.
  • CEO voting power concentration is

… Read more

ISS Offers an Update on U.S. Director Pay

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In recent years, non-executive director compensation has received attention in the U.S. Increased board workloads, shifts in director compensation structure (away from meeting fees and towards slightly larger base retainers, for instance), a few instances of shareholder litigation in relation to excessive director pay, and a few voluntary submissions of management proposals asking for shareholder approval of their non-employee director compensation programs have all contributed to the activity.

Upon review of current trends in director pay, we observe a reasonable increase in total director compensation, across all market segments, and we continue to see differentiation by industry group. Although director … Read more

ISS Offers Insights into How Much CEOs Are Really Paid

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How much compensation does a CEO really end up with? It’s a tough question to answer – the summary compensation table is often cited as what the CEO is paid, but the ultimate value that an executive realized from those grants can differ significantly from the amounts disclosed.

For years, companies have recognized this potential discrepancy; since even before the advent of say-on-pay, companies in perilous performance positions have turned to alternative measures of pay to demonstrate that executives have shared in the pain that investors feel in their portfolio values. These alternatives have included various forms of realizable and … Read more

ISS Takes an Early Look at 2019 Shareholder Proposals

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In the U.S., shareholder proposal filings have historically played an important role in advancing corporate governance and in highlighting key risks related to environmental and social issues. Some of the major shifts in governance practices during the past two decades – including the annual elections of directors, the adoption of majority vote standard for director elections, and the adoption of proxy access among large firms – were largely prompted by shareholder resolution campaigns. Shareholder proposals have also served as a driving force for greater corporate awareness of environmental and social risks, such as climate change risk management, diversity and inclusion … Read more

ISS Discusses Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets

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Analyzing corporate governance at companies in emerging markets can be really tough. A combination of differing regulatory standards, disclosure requirements, market norms, local investor preferences, and more all collude to make the evaluation of governance structures difficult. Giving credit where due, emerging market economies have made significant corporate governance strides over the past decade, as the adoptions and revisions of governance codes and relevant regulations have led to better disclosure standards, higher levels of board independence, and more shareholder protections.

Despite these developments, emerging markets continue to have a unique set of characteristics which require special attention when assessing corporate … Read more

ISS Discusses Role of Shareholder Proposals in Shaping U.S. Governance Practices

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Over the past three decades, shareholder proposals have transformed the corporate landscape in the U.S. by spurring the adoption of governance best practices. Annual director elections, majority vote rules for director elections, shareholder approval for poison pills, and proxy access bylaws are some of the critical governance practices that have become common practice thanks to investor support for shareholder proposal campaigns led by a wide variety of investors—some large; others small. Despite the advisory (non-binding) nature of most shareholder proposals in the U.S., successive waves of campaigns eroded boardroom entrenchment by convincing directors to respond to shareholders’ calls for accountability, … Read more

ISS Discusses U.S. Proxy Voting Trends from 2000 to 2018: Environmental and Social Issues

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Appearances can be very deceiving. Case in point: The high-level summary numbers of voting results over the last 19 years seem to indicate that little has changed regarding proxy voting behavior among investors owning U.S. companies. A simple analysis of median vote support levels for management and shareholder proposals seems to reveal stasis – support levels remain at approximately the same levels they were back in the early to middle 2000s.

But the reality is that investor voting behavior among owners of U.S. companies has changed significantly – perhaps almost revolutionarily – over the past two decades. Corporate governance has … Read more

ISS Lists Top 10 Corporate Governance Topics to Watch in 2019

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As the world greets the New Year, investors and companies may take a moment to reflect on key corporate governance priorities in light of a potentially more challenging business environment in the year ahead. The prospect of slower global economic growth, combined with a higher cost of borrowing, and continued uncertainty regarding global trade will demand watchful management of a new set of risks in both developed and developing markets. Macroeconomic trends will likely have an impact on firm performance and companies’ balance sheets, raising greater awareness of audit quality concerns and executive compensation practices. Meanwhile, many governance topics that … Read more