NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2018 /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 differ on social, environmental,
political spending disclosure, and proxy access proposals, and on
how actively they engage in the proxy voting process.
This report is based on analysis of 4,090 U.S. public company
annual shareholder meetings held between
January 1 and June 30, 2018 and on Broadridge's processing
of shares held in street name.
Highlights
|
Institutions
|
Retail
|
Percent of all shares
owned
|
70%
|
30%
|
Participation in the
voting
process
|
91%
|
28%
|
Support of Social
& Environmental
Proposals
|
29%
|
16%
|
Support of Political
Spending
Proposals
|
29%
|
21%
|
Support of Proxy
Access
Proposals
|
35%
|
13%
|
Insights
Commenting on this season's findings were two of the ProxyPulse™
report authors, Chuck Callan, senior
vice president, regulatory affairs, Broadridge Financial Solutions
and Paul DeNicola, principal,
Governance Insights Center, PwC.
Mr. Callan noted, "A new theme emerged over the last few proxy
seasons that shows a divergence between how institutional and
retail investors view certain topics, such as social and
environmental proposals, political spending disclosure by
companies, and even how much participants engage in proxy voting.
This divergence suggests companies would be wise to
participate broadly with all shareholders."
Mr. DeNicola commented, "The increase in shareholder support for
ESG-related proposals is particularly notable. In the 2018 proxy
season, institutional investors voted in favor of social and
environmental proposals at an average rate of 29% -- compared to
just 19% five years ago."
Notable Topics to Watch
In 2018, companies began making mandatory CEO pay ratio
disclosures, comparing the total compensation of their chief
executive officer with that of their median employee. Average
support for say-on-pay proposals this season remained at 89%,
generally consistent over a five-year period. Notably,
shareholder support for say-on-pay proposals at companies where the
CEO pay ratio was disclosed was the same, on average, as it was at
companies that were not required to disclose the pay ratio.
The number of proxy access proposals declined over the last four
years, from 81 in 2015 to 34 in 2018. This is primarily due to the
number of companies that have adopted proxy access – including 65%
of S&P 500 companies. Notably this past season,
institutions opposed shareholder proposals that sought to lower
existing thresholds or remove limits on the number of shareholders
required to reach the ownership threshold.
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 research project between Broadridge, a 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 and a part of the S&P 500® Index, is a leading provider
of investor communications and technology-driven solutions to
banks, broker-dealers, asset managers 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 50 percent of public companies and mutual
funds globally, and processes on average more than US $5 trillion in fixed income and equity trades per
day. Broadridge employs over 10,000 full-time associates in 18
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. PwC is a network of firms in 158 countries with
more than 236,000 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.
©2018 PwC. All rights reserved.
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
Ryan Cangialosi
PwC US
1-347-443-2157
Ryan.A.Cangialosi@pwc.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.