Corporate Governance Summary of Proxy Votes – Fiscal Year 2013-14
Corporate Governance Summary of Proxy Votes – Fiscal Year 2013-14
Corporate Governance Program Team: Anne Sheehan, Director of Corporate Governance; Janice Hester-Amey, Portfolio Manager; Brian Rice, Portfolio Manager; Aeisha Mastagni, Investment Officer; Philip Larrieu, Investment Officer; Ly Van, Investment Officer; Travis Antoniono, Investment Officer; Eric Kwong, Investment Officer
Proxy Voting
During fiscal year 2013-14, CalSTRS staff voted on 74,666 proxy proposals at 7,956 meetings, submitted on behalf of 7,060 corporations that were held in the Global Equity portfolio.
The 74,666 proposals were a 12 percent increase from the 66,670 proposals staff voted on in 2012-13. The 7,956 meetings considered were a 13 percent increase from the 7,045 meetings considered in 2012-13.
The significant increase in the total number of proposals and meetings voted is primarily attributed to CalSTRS’ hiring of new non-U.S. external managers, particularly in the emerging markets in 2013, since the number of foreign proxies voted substantially increased by more than 28 percent.
Domestic Proxies
During fiscal year 2013-14, CalSTRS staff voted on 25,715 proposals at 3,062 meetings held for 2,930 companies in the domestic public equity portfolio.
Foreign Proxies
During fiscal year 2013-14, CalSTRS staff voted on 48,951 proposals at 4,892 meetings held for 4,130 companies in our non-domestic equity portfolio.
Summary
In fiscal year 2013-14, the total number of proposals and meetings voted was more than 10 percent higher compared to 2012-13, although the number of domestic proposals and meetings voted decreased by approximately six percent during this time period.