Shareholders' requests at annual general meetings near 40%

This article by Cinco Dias comments on how shareholders of listed companies are increasingly raising their voices at shareholders’ meetings. According to Morrow Sodali’s Quarterly Activist Ownership Analysis, there was a 40% increase last year in the number of proposals submitted to the boards of US-listed companies. European companies are somewhat slower in this regard, but the trend is the same.

The report registered 538 shareholders’ requests brought to the top governing body of the companies in the first half of last year, compared to only 385 during the same period in 2021. Most of the requests (46%) are of an environmental nature, calling for emission reductions, while an additional 39% address social issues.

Key issues being raised by shareholders include a greater commitment to gender and race diversity, limits on executive compensation upon leaving the company, and improvements in animal welfare.

Read the full article here.