Sky Blog
Environmental and social (E&S) issues are an increasingly publicized component of investment management. Large fund families, including the “Big Three” of Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street, market themselves as advocates for the environment, women, workers in developing countries, and other …
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 …
The intensifying spotlight turned on boards of directors and management teams by investors prompts a fresh look at how public companies approach board development, director succession planning and refreshment in advance of an activist attack, shareholder unrest or a crisis …
What does boardroom culture yield when a board commits to a broad embrace of diversity—including diversity of gender, ideas, ethnicity, race, education, age, and skills? Do chances improve for decisions that help lead the company to maximize its potential and …
In a recent study, we examine whether a director’s “diversity” explains two employment outcomes: being retained on the board and being promoted to board leadership positions. We define diversity as the director’s dissimilarity to the other members of the board …
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 …
On September 30, 2018, only hours before the deadline, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed bill SB 826, making his state the first in the U.S. to adopt board gender quotas for public companies.
The law requires listed companies headquartered in …
With the vast majority of annual meetings set to be held in the coming weeks, the contours of the 2018 proxy season are coming into focus. While previous years are remembered for defining initiatives — “say on pay” in 2011, …
The board of directors is the highest decision-making authority in a corporation. But sometimes boards struggle to make decisions. In surveys, 67 percent of directors report the inability to decide about some issues in the boardroom. Moreover, 37 percent say …
Many institutional investors have made increasing the diversity of corporate boards a priority, yet activist investors that rely on the support of these institutional investors often make boards less diverse. Boards should take advantage of this divergence between the priorities …
Diversity in corporate boards is a hot topic. We contribute to the debate on the role of diversity by empirically documenting that greater national cultural diversity in corporate boards leads to lower performance at UK firms accounting for more than …
Make no mistake, the invasion of the Millennials is upon us. From actor and comedian Aziz Ansari to tech tycoon and philanthropist Mark Zuckerberg, Millennials have made an indelible mark on American society and the world.
According to Pew Research
Work/life balance has been described as the issue of our age, but attainment of a balance, or the ‘good life’, is increasingly elusive. This is borne out by a study of Australian male and female corporate lawyers, the findings from …
Are gender-balanced boards more active than non-gender balanced boards? I address this question in “Gender and Board Activeness: The Role of a Critical Mass”, forthcoming in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. Using detailed minutes of …