Newsletters

"BlackRock’s giving index fund holders the ability to vote shares as they see fit is a massive change – for the better. Larry Fink did not become the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager without exercising some intelligence. His recent move to allow holders of Index funds to votes shares represents a significant shift in the traditional way of conducting business, and one which was inevitable given the prevalence of indexation, and the high concentration within the index industry. Per the Wall Street Journal..."

"As administrations have changed, so has their outlook on proxy voting and the associated rules and regulations. Many of the proposed rules from last year are now suspended and may never be implemented – at least in their current form. On the other hand, issues like ESG and the actual voting of proxies have become much more of a front-burner issue..."

"If you are an institutional investor, you have probably thought about it, indeed there is a very good chance you are already outsourcing proxy voting. Either way it’s worth looking at the cost and benefits of why outsourcing makes so much sense for this key compliance issue as well as how much you should expect to pay and how much time you can save by doing it..."

"You have heard it for years, certain proxy firms, except for Egan-Jones, have an unforgivable conflict of interest: they get paid to consult with the very firms they rate and recommend votes on. Sometimes called “pay for pay” instead of “pay to play,” many have assumed that this issue is well controlled—why else would it be allowed to persist if it were really a problem? Let us explain, in our expert opinion why we believe it to be a very big problem..."

"In an era of sacrifice, risk, and despair for many employees, one group of employees has yet again defied the norm, often with significant increases in actual compensation and wealth during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic and societal turmoil. Who are these lucky ducks— top executives and most especially CEOs at America’s big public companies..."

"With the price of oil on the rise, major auto companies like Ford essentially dropping out of the auto market you would think that the world would be Tesla’s [TSLA] oyster. Despite all these opportunities to begin the hard work of making the short sellers pay and pay dearly Elon Musk apparently decided to do the opposite and give them more ammunition by refusing to answer some analyst questions..."