NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The new
ProxyPulse™ report released today by Broadridge Financial
Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR) and PwC's Governance Insights Center
shows that institutional and retail investors tended to vote their
shares differently on issues ranging from climate change to board
diversity.
During the 2017 proxy season, climate change proposals were
supported by 66% of institutional shares voted versus only 13% of
retail shares. Board diversity proposals were supported by 31% of
institutional shares voted versus 14% of retail shares. This report
is based on analysis of 3,379 U.S. public company annual
shareholder meetings held between January 1
and June 30, 2017.
"The data shows that institutional shareholders' voting actions
are consistent with their stated positions on climate change and
board diversity. Patience appears to have run out for some
institutions," said Chuck Callan,
senior vice president, regulatory affairs, Broadridge. "At the same
time, retail shareholders as a group largely voted in line with
company recommendations."
In addition to the insight that institutional and retail
investors voted differently on climate change and board diversity,
several other findings were of note:
Decline in Proxy Contests
While shareholder activism continued to receive a great deal of
attention this season, proxy contests decreased compared to the
same period last year. During the first half of 2016 there were 47
contests, compared to only 38 for the same period this year. The
average length of campaigns decreased drastically in the first half
of 2017: 44 days, compared to 109 days for the entire year of
2016.
Paul DeNicola, managing director
of the Governance Insights Center for PwC, noted, "The decrease in
proxy contests and shortening of the length of campaigns clearly
illustrates that boards are negotiating more with activists, and
settling faster."
Decline in Shareholder Proposals that Went to a Vote
Shareholder proposals that went to a vote decreased from 506 in
the first half of 2016 to 430 this season. Institutional and retail
shareholder support for shareholder proposals varied greatly.
Institutional shareholders were much more supportive of proposals
across the various categories – typically two to three times that
of retail shareholders.
Virtual Shareholder Meetings Continue to Grow
Virtual-only annual meetings grew in popularity, as 163
companies had virtual-only shareholder meetings as of June 30, 2017 -- compared to 122 during the first
half of 2016. But this was not without controversy as
some shareholders, including the New York City Pension Funds and
the Council of Institutional Investors, voiced concerns with the
absence of in-person annual meetings.
Additional details, insights, graphics, data, and observations
can be found at www.ProxyPulse.com.
About ProxyPulse
ProxyPulse is based in part on Broadridge's processing of shares
held in street name, which accounts for more than 80 percent of all
shares outstanding of U.S. publicly-listed companies. Shareholder
voting trends during a proxy season represent a snapshot in time
and may not be predictive of full-year results.
ProxyPulse is a collaboration between Broadridge, the leading
provider of investor communications solutions and PwC's Governance
Insights Center, a group that supports directors and investors with
governance knowledge. Visit ProxyPulse.com to access the full
report.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) a global fintech
leader, provides investor communications and technology-driven
solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds and corporate
issuers globally. Broadridge's investor communications, securities
processing and managed services solutions help clients reduce their
capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to
increase their focus on core business activities. With over
50 years of experience, Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy
voting services for over 90 percent of public companies and mutual
funds in North America, and
processes more than $5 trillion in
fixed income and equity trades per day. Broadridge employs
approximately 10,000 full-time associates in 16 countries. For more
information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.
About PwC US
At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve
important problems. We're a network of firms in 157 countries with
more than 223,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in
assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us
what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.
PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member
firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please
see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
PwC's Governance Insights Center supports directors and
investors with governance knowledge to answer tough questions and
tackle complex challenges. Learn from our network of subject-matter
experts, business leaders, and experienced peers as they share
their insights and the latest thinking on current issues. Beyond
governance, we help directors and investors better understand new
financial accounting standards so they can make better oversight
and investment decisions. The center connects all the dots for a
more complete perspective. For more information, please visit:
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/governance-insights-center.
Media Contacts:
Andrew MacMillan
1-212-681-1700
1-914-400-3674 mobile
amacmillan@torrenzano.com
Stephanie C. Corzett
PwC US
1-617-530-4977
Stephanie.c.corzett@us.pwc.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.