![]() | Advice from proxy advisers shouldn't be blindly followed |
April-1-2012
Lawyer | Neill May |
Area | Corporate Finance and Securities, Shareholder Rights and Activism |
Summary
Article originally published in Canadian Lawyer Magazine
Excerpt from "Advice from proxy advisers shouldn't be blindly followed":
It seems increasingly trendy these days to criticize the clout and role of proxy advisory firms, which are firms that specialize in advising their clients (typically large institutional investors) on how to exercise the voting rights attached to their investments in public companies. Although the highest profile debate about their activity was spawned a few years back by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. when it recommended that Coke's shareholders vote against the election of Warren Buffett, one of North America's most influential investors, to the company's audit committee, the frequency of criticisms of proxy advisory firms has intensified recently.