FT: “One of the world’s largest investors will start publicly declaring how it intends to vote at companies’ annual meetings in a move that will ratchet up pressure on boards in Europe and raise the spectre of a sharp rise in shareholder rebellions.”
“The initiative from Norway’s $870bn oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth vehicle, marks a big departure for shareholder activism in Europe, where large investors rarely say how they plan to vote.
….The Norwegian fund told the Financial Times: “We think this will contribute to the transparency of how we manage the fund and assess questions for voting.”
The oil fund, which on average owns 2.5 per cent of every listed European company and has stakes in more than 8,000 businesses, said it aimed to reveal its voting intentions for all companies eventually.
“I feel this is actually quite an exciting development, as it will force everyone in the industry to raise their game,” said Hans Hirt, executive director at Hermes EOS, the UK activist investor.
….In the US, several large pension funds, including Calpers and Calstrs, disclose their votes shortly before annual meetings, but not usually far enough in advance to affect the debate.”
Future Today
