News
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Why so many ESG reporting standards miss the point
Investors need less data, more focus, says Dr William Cox A current study of ESG reporting by 4,500 US and European companies finds between 50 percent and 75 percent of 2022 ESG data reported was unnecessary to comply with regulations and satisfy the guidelines of relevant investment funds. Yet companies are outdoing each other in producing sustainability reports of 200-300-pages, which makes it difficult for investors to wade through the data noise. The average listed company spends $675,000 annually on ESG data and ratings, with asset managers shelling out $1.4 mn, according to a survey by the SustainAbility Institute by…
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Sun Life aims to save 400 hours of staff time with ESG prioritization tool
Canadian financial services company uses tool to decide which ESG ratings and rankings to focus on How should companies divide their time among the hundreds of ESG ratings, rankings and assessments that request their attention? At Sun Life, the Canadian financial services firm, the sustainability team has come up with a solution: an ESG prioritization tool that ranks providers into different categories. Alanna Boyd, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer at Sun Life, tells Governance Intelligence sister publication IR Magazine the tool is expected to free up around ‘400 hours’ a year of internal staff time, which can be…
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The week in GRC: SBTi faces pushback over new offsets policy and Macy’s settles proxy fight with Arkhouse
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web ‒The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reported that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued two proposals that would require audit firms to disclose metrics on the involvement and turnover of their auditors and provide new details on fees and cyber-security vulnerabilities. Audit firms at present must publicly identify the lead partner on the audits they perform and the other firms that helped with that work. Firms also share information each year such as a list of their public company audit clients and the addresses of their offices. Some…
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Climate Action 100+ exits are about climate evolution not a loss of momentum, says ESG expert
New report examines voting patterns of big money managers that have exited or scaled back involvement in prominent climate-activist coalition ‘Investor relations professionals shouldn’t think there’s been a loss of momentum in terms of how managers are approaching climate,’ says one sustainability expert, talking about the significance, in recent months, of some top-name investment managers exiting the Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) pressure group. Instead, he says the move signifies ‘an evolution of the [climate] approach’ as certain money managers hone in on exactly what they’re looking for when it comes to ESG. ‘US managers in particular are becoming a lot…
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Proxy statements seen as top challenge ahead of proxy season, research finds
Document has evolved from a compliance exercise to a key communication tool More governance experts see proxy statements as the biggest challenge ahead of the proxy season than any other part of that work, according to a new online poll from Governance Intelligence. More than four in 10 respondents to the poll (43 percent) say that for members of an in-house legal/governance team, the proxy statement poses the greatest challenges in helping their company prepare for the proxy season. The proxy statement is followed by shareholder engagement, which 37 percent of respondents say is the biggest challenge. Behind that are…
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Hertz general counsel to step down
Colleen Batcheler has been with the car rental company since 2022 Almost half of companies are putting more resources toward their governance work preparing for proxy season, with very few dialing back, according to a new online poll from Governance Intelligence. In recent years, the governance work done in preparation for shareholder meetings has come into greater focus among investors and other stakeholders. That work ranges from shareholder engagement and writing the proxy statement to planning the AGM itself. The increasing attention has arisen in part due to the growing numbers of ESG-related shareholder proposals as well as high-profile shareholder…
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Many companies devoting more resources to proxy season prep, poll finds
Governance efforts ramped up in face of greater scrutiny Colleen Batcheler, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Hertz Global Holdings, has told the company she intends to resign from her role effective April 10 to accept ‘a role outside the company’, according to an SEC filing. She will remain with the company in a non-executive capacity until April 20 to help with the transition of her duties, the filing states. Requests for comment from Batcheler and Hertz were not returned immediately. Batcheler joined Hertz in May 2022. She had previously been executive vice president, general counsel and corporate…
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The week in GRC: SEC delays climate rules during litigation and ISS recommends CEO/chair split at Goldman Sachs
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that cloud communications company Twilio appointed a partner at Sachem Head Capital Management to its board amid pressure from several activist investment firms to make changes. Twilio added Andy Stafman and expanded the size of the board to 10 people. The change removes the chance of a boardroom challenge from Sachem Head in 2024 when three Twilio directors, including CEO Khozema Shipchandler and board chair Jeff Epstein, are scheduled to stand for election. Twilio has come under pressure from activist investors including Legion Partners and…
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How to manage an adverse proxy adviser recommendation
With proxy season upon us, Domenick de Robertis explains the steps companies can take ahead of an AGM Favorable vote recommendations from the major proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis certainly make a company’s AGM easier. When faced with an adverse vote recommendation, however, companies should know there are still options on the table. The window for action is tight, though, so preparing in advance is critical. Issuers can begin thinking through the following steps so they can quickly move into action should there be opposition to any ballot items.Step 1: Know your shareholder baseThe first step is understanding your…
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SEC declines Tesla request over excluding deep-sea mining proposal
Group behind resolution concerned by ecosystem loss The SEC has declined to give Tesla the go-ahead to omit a shareholder proposal regarding concerns about the impact of deep-sea mining as used to extract materials for vehicle batteries. The proposal, filed by As You Sow, requests that Tesla ‘commit to a moratorium on sourcing minerals from deep-sea mining, consistent with the principles announced in the Business Statement Supporting a Moratorium on Deep Sea Mining.’ The proponent adds in a supporting statement: ‘If Tesla cannot so commit, shareholders request that the board disclose its rationale and assess the company’s anticipated need for…