Among the many noteworthy key takeaways from Meridian’s annual “2024 Corporate Governance & Incentive Design Survey” are those relating to shareholder outreach disclosures in the most recent annual proxy statements among the study group dubbed the “Meridian 200,” i.e., 200 large-caps across industries deemed to be a representative sample of the S&P 500.
Most commonly addressed in the corporate governance or CD&A sections of the proxy statement (75% and 62%, respectively, with companies tending to address in multiple locations), 95% of Meridian 200 companies disclosed their shareholder outreach efforts in their proxies. Of those, more than half (53%) discussed shareholder feedback and/or responsive actions, whereas 42% disclosed their outreach efforts but did not address shareholder feedback or actions taken in response to shareholder feedback.
The firm supports more robust disclosure and offers this commentary:
From Meridian’s perspective, disclosing comprehensive outreach efforts not only showcases a company’s responsiveness, but also strengthens the justification for its compensation decisions. These engagement disclosures typically include direct communications with major institutional investors on a range of issues, including company performance, business strategy, executive compensation, business risks, human capital management, and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters.
According to the report, which also covers numerous other governance and compensation-related disclosures and associated practices, shareholder outreach disclosure has increased 13% over the past five years.
The Meridian 200 companies are listed on pages 54 - 55 of the report.
Access additional resources on our Annual Meeting/Proxy Statement and Shareholder Engagement pages.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!