PROXY MOXIE — CEOs and corporate boards have to face their shareholders once a year, and it’s rarely a chummy get-together. Activist investors for decades have used annual shareholder meetings to cajole, shame, even harass executives on their environmental policies, human rights, and executive pay. The meetings typically happen in April, May or June — it’s known as proxy season since that’s how most shareholders actually vote — and the results can be a guide to how companies are responding to public pressure.

Proposals that decades ago might have been presented to management as moral or ethical imperatives now are being viewed through the prism of profits. Shareholders have adopted the language of Wall Street as more executives wake up to the bottom-line value of sustainability (think reputational risk and, say, Nike and Dove). Read Full Article - Poltico, July 1, 2020