01-20-2014, 08:55 AM
I've tried to vote every proxy I get for years just like political elections.
I look for "bad actors" on the board and vote against them. Someone like Bob Nardelli of $200M+ salary fame from Home Depot or Dennis Koslowski of Tyco I don't want on my board. If I think the top executives are using the company as their own piggy bank or the company is not performing well for while, I also vote against the compensation committee. My own belief is you can't give a CEO a big % base salary raise when the company isn't doing so well.
I vote for shareholder proposals that support my own core principles. For example, women equality or recycle/conservation efforts but vote against those of special interest groups that are trying to change the company's reason for existence. Anti-smoking groups trying to tell Altria to get out of the cigarette business are just crazy.
I at least skim over everything to get a feel how the board and executives see the company.
I also vote against every non-binding "Say on Pay" proposal for every executive that gets over $1M in base compensation.
It usually doesn't make a difference but sometimes the board is more judicious when they see votes not as they expected, even those not in the majority.
I look for "bad actors" on the board and vote against them. Someone like Bob Nardelli of $200M+ salary fame from Home Depot or Dennis Koslowski of Tyco I don't want on my board. If I think the top executives are using the company as their own piggy bank or the company is not performing well for while, I also vote against the compensation committee. My own belief is you can't give a CEO a big % base salary raise when the company isn't doing so well.
I vote for shareholder proposals that support my own core principles. For example, women equality or recycle/conservation efforts but vote against those of special interest groups that are trying to change the company's reason for existence. Anti-smoking groups trying to tell Altria to get out of the cigarette business are just crazy.
I at least skim over everything to get a feel how the board and executives see the company.
I also vote against every non-binding "Say on Pay" proposal for every executive that gets over $1M in base compensation.
It usually doesn't make a difference but sometimes the board is more judicious when they see votes not as they expected, even those not in the majority.