Corporate Governance Summary of Proxy Votes – Fiscal Year 2015-16
Corporate Governance Summary of Proxy Votes – Fiscal Year 2015-16
Corporate Governance Program Team: Anne Sheehan, Director of Corporate Governance; Brian Rice, Portfolio Manager; Aeisha Mastagni, Portfolio Manager; Philip Larrieu, Investment Officer; Ly Van, Investment Officer; Travis Antoniono, Investment Officer; Eric Kwong, Investment Officer; Douglas Chen, Investment Officer; Daniel Bain, Investment Officer; Mary Morris, Investment Officer
Proxy Voting
During 2015-16, staff voted on 76,995 proxy proposals at 7,932 meetings, submitted on behalf of 7,072 corporations that were held in the Global Equity portfolio. The 76,995 proposals were a 0.6 percent decrease from the 77,461 proposals staff voted in 2014-15 and the 7,932 meetings considered were only slightly more than the 7,923 meetings considered in 2014-15.
Domestic Proxies
During 2015-16, staff voted on 25,095 proposals at 3,012 meetings held for 2,874 companies in the domestic public equity portfolio. The proposals covered a variety of topics:
- The election of directors.
- The ratification of company auditors.
- The approval of executive and director compensation plans.
- The approval of mergers and acquisitions.
Foreign Proxies
During 2015-16, staff voted on 51,900 proposals at 4,920 meetings held for 4,198 companies in our non-domestic equity portfolio. The proposals covered a variety of topics, including:
- Election of directors.
- Appointment of company auditors.
- Ratification of compensation reports.
- Approval of executive and director compensation plans.
- Mergers and acquisitions.
Due to the differences in proxies between jurisdictions, we do not have the level of granularity in distinguishing proposals that we have for the United States.
Summary
In 2015-16, the total number of proposals decreased slightly by 0.6 percent compared to 2014-15 while the total number of meetings voted on was not significantly different.