User talk:Alanbrett

If you're going to change the FTSE 100 Index page, can you please ensure that all the companies listed that have their own article link through correctly? eg 3i Group plc does not link anywhere but 3i does. I am fed up with people changing the list to the full plc name but then not linking it to the article on that company. It is so annoying. There is no need to list the PLC name, just the name of the company. Astrotrain.

Say on pay - corp gov

Hi Alan, glad to see someone adding to this article! Maybe we could put the material you inserted with the other companies' "revolts" section (and rename it to something like, "Examples of voting practice" etc? - so separate the law and proposed laws from what individual companies are doing?

On another note, do I understand correctly that you work in getting beneficial owners of shares to be able to vote? Does that mean that you're dealing mostly with institutional investors, who want to tell a fund manager how to exercise their shares; and if so, do you come across much talk/research into getting people whose money it actually is (eg the worker who will get a pension; the unit trust account holder) the right to participate? Cheers, Wik idea 08:15, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The situation in Switzerland and Ireland is not unlike that in the US. At present say-on-pay proposals are one of the most common types of shareholder resolutions in the US. In Switzerland it was attempted to amend the Articles of Association to provide for it. In Ireland, the resolution itself was proposed as a shareholder proposal initially. Of the 3, the US is the only one I am aware of where the issue is discussed by politicans, although the campaign in Ireland moves towards that as the next phase. South Africa is proposing to amend its corporate governance code to recommed that companies provide an annual say-on-pay vote. I am aware of some successful shareholder proposals in the US.

- Some say-on-pay regulations may be in company law; others in listing rules; or in the corporate governance code.

- Shareholder activism - where it is not yet provided for in the above, but investors are seeking to introduce such a resolution, whether by campaigning to get regulations changed, engaging with companies or filing shareholder resolutions.

- Contentious votes - I am aware of over 20 defeated advisory vote resolutions in the UK and a number in Australia.

Where I work we 1) prepare research ahead of shareholder meetings flagging up any potential issues for investors / provide vote recommendations. 2) we deliver votes electronically to meetings on behalf on investors. Many pension fund trustees are becoming more active in the voting process. It's the AGM season at the moment so I may be able to invest some time on this page in a couple of weeks. Alanbrett (talk) 19:46, 11 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]