By John Vizikas, Senior Research Analyst On Friday, Daniel Vasella’s chairmanship at Swiss drug maker Novartis ended with the conclusion of the company’s annual general meeting. Vasella’s tenure ended amid a rash of shareholder criticism regarding the now infamous “Vasella Golden Handshake,” which came to light only a week before the AGM. Under the now-cancelled [...]
Tag Archives | Say on Pay
Novartis: Vasella Golden Handshake No Surprise
February 25, 2013 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Executive Pay
Small Print
November 16, 2012 in Daily Viewpoint, Small Print
By Paul Hodgson – Chief Research Analyst Executive Quotation of the Week From a Reuters report on Best Buy via Events Team Manager Mark Magee comes this week’s winner of the Executive Quotation of the Week Competition. “I know that the company is going to reinvent itself and I came out of retirement because I [...]
Guess?, Inc. Senior Executives Leave to Pursue Other Interests
November 7, 2012 in Daily Viewpoint, Ratings Watch
By Greg Ruel – Senior Research Associate On November 1, Guess?, Inc. announced that two of its senior officers were leaving before year’s end to “pursue other interests,” with the news sending shares down about five percent. J. Michael Prince is exiting at the end of the month after serving just two years as Chief [...]
Small Print
October 26, 2012 in Daily Viewpoint, Small Print
By Paul Hodgson, Chief Research Analyst The Definition of Irony Events Analyst Marge Schwietering spotted this website release from Energizer Holdings. Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR), announced today it is initiating a voluntary market withdrawal of the continuous spray Banana Boat sun care products identified in the table below [you don’t want to see the [...]
Is Vikram Pandit’s Citigroup Exit Good or Bad for Long-Term Governance?
October 19, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Ratings Watch
By Greg Ruel- Senior Research Associate The abrupt departure of Citigroup’s CEO Vikram Pandit on Tuesday wobbled shareholders and surprised nearly everyone outside the company’s own boardroom. “The sense of calamity has yet again returned to Citi,” said one senior banker of the exit on a company conference call Wednesday. From a governance perspective, a [...]
Responsible Investor: What was behind the votes in Europe’s “shareholder spring” and what does it mean for 2013
September 18, 2012 in GMI In the News
by Paul Hodgson This year’s shareholder spring in Europe had its origins in discontent over executive pay practices seen by many as one of the sources of the financial crisis. Twenty-four companies in Europe have so far received a significant “against” vote on executive pay this annual general meeting (AGM) season, defined as less than [...]
Bloomberg: Pandit’s Censured Bonus Unhurt by Smith Barney Writedown
September 17, 2012 in GMI In the News
…“I can’t see any good reason to exclude that from an assessment of the group’s performance except to ring-fence his bonus,” said Paul Hodgson, a researcher at GMI Ratings, a corporate governance consulting firm based in New York. “It seems somewhat disingenuous to exclude potential catastrophic losses from anything Smith Barney might have done from [...]
JPMorgan and Citigroup to “rethink” Executive Compensation
September 11, 2012 in CEO Pay, Daily Viewpoint
By Greg Ruel – Senior Research Associate According to the Wall Street Journal, banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) is considering bonus cuts for senior managers, including CEO Jamie Dimon. Though details are few, JPM’s board is expected to slash executive bonuses in an about face on executive compensation following an estimated $5.8 billion [...]
Reuters: BlackRock picked its battles in fierce proxy season
August 31, 2012 in GMI In the News
Backed Citigroup, JPMorgan, but dissented elsewhere BlackRock’s Edkins: ‘a high threshold for voting no on pay’ By Ross Kerber ….Though final tallies are not available, votes shown in filings this week suggest BlackRock often gave executives the benefit of the doubt. But its less-frequent votes against individual board members like those who sit on compensation [...]
Forbes: The Failure of U.S. Capitalism Is the Shareholders’ Fault?
August 7, 2012 in GMI In the News
There’s been a lot of talk lately about blaming shareholders and the corporate governance movement for the failure of the capitalist economy. This makes about as much sense as claiming that all corporations are inherently evil. But that has not prevented some commentators from tilting at every governance advance that has been achieved over the [...]
The Failure of U.S. Capitalism is the Shareholders’ Fault?
August 7, 2012 in CEO Pay, Daily Viewpoint
By Paul Hodgson – Chief Research Analyst There’s been a lot of talk lately about blaming shareholders and the corporate governance movement for the failure of the capitalist economy. This makes about as much sense as claiming that all corporations are inherently evil. But that has not prevented some commentators from tilting at every governance [...]
GMI Ratings Governance Issue | Johnson Controls, Inc.
July 23, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
After Johnson Controls, Inc. announced a disappointing earnings forecast and its stock price dropped in recent days, some investors might be wondering if the Milwaukee auto supplier is now a bargain. When evaluating the company’s shares, potential buyers should consider the company’s poor governance. As customers bought fewer batteries in recent months and prices rose [...]
Bloomberg: More Shareholders Are Just Saying No on Executive Pay (Nell Minow)
July 19, 2012 in GMI In the News
It is often said that social change can’t occur until what was seen as misfortune is seen as injustice. There is a corollary in the financial world. It says change can’t occur until what was seen as immaterial is seen as risky. That’s happening with executive compensation. Investors are recognizing that excessive pay for chief [...]
July 2, 2012: CFO Journal.
July 2, 2012 in GMI In the News
July 2, 2012: Opinion: Shareholders Will Have Final Say on Pay (CFO Journal.)
CFO Journal Opinion: Shareholders Will Have Final Say on Pay (Nell Minow)
July 2, 2012 in GMI In the News
In his editorial in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Holman Jenkins clearly understands that he can’t win the debate on excessive CEO pay by responding to real-life shareholder concerns. So all he could do in “The Never-Ending War on CEO Pay” is refute an argument no one ever made, while overlooking some inconvenient facts. Few, if [...]
July 2, 2012: CFO Journal.
July 2, 2012 in GMI In the News
July 2, 2012: Opinion: Shareholders Will Have Final Say on Pay (CFO Journal.)
July 2, 2012: CFO Journal.
July 2, 2012 in GMI In the News
July 2, 2012: Opinion: Shareholders Will Have Final Say on Pay (CFO Journal.)
Chesapeake Receives a Hammering at Hands of Shareholders
June 8, 2012 in Corporate Governance, Daily Viewpoint, Flash Reports
By Paul Hodgson – CCO and Senior Research Associate Preliminary voting results from Chesapeake’s annual meeting today reveal that the two directors up for election must resign, Say on Pay failed spectacularly, even the annual incentive plan failed to receive support. Shareholder proposals, on the other hand, went very well, with proxy access, reincorporating in [...]
May 31, 2012: Council of Institutional Investors
May 31, 2012 in GMI In the News
May 31, 2012: 2012 Say-on-Pay Votes Reveal Shareowners’ Priorities (Council of Institutional Investors)
May 26, 2012: Charlotte Observer
May 26, 2012 in GMI In the News
May 26, 2012: Execs’ pay still hefty, rising (Charlotte Observer)