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May 14, 2007
Effort to Bring Fairness and Accountability to Investor Governance Process
SACRAMENTO, CA – A desire for improved shareowner democracy by the UnitedHealth Group
directors has prompted the California State Teachers' Retirement System to ask UNH shareowners to support
Proposal 4 on the company's May 29th ballot.
CalSTRS, which owns 5.5 million UnitedHealth Group shares worth $300 million, sent a letter today to
approximately 7,000 fellow shareowners requesting support for Proposal 4. The proposal, made by CalPERS,
would give shareowners a voice in nominating independent directors by providing access to the proxy materials
under certain and clearly defined conditions.
"It's time for the true owners of America's companies to have a voice in who represents them,
just like the democracy this country was founded upon," said Christopher J. Ailman, chief investment officer of CalSTRS.
"This proposal will add value for UnitedHealth's shareowners while enhancing the company's reputation as a model of
fair and transparent governance."
The letter states that CalSTRS believes this proposal would provide a low-cost and less distracting process for
investors to have a meaningful say in the governance of the board and by extension, its oversight of the corporation
and accountability to shareowners.
With a $162.2 billion investment portfolio, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System
is the second-largest public pension fund in the United States. It provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits to
California’s 800,000 public school kindergarten through community college educators and their families.
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