How did universal proxy impact the 2023 season?

Beyond the Boardroom

Kieran Poole is joined by Olshan Frome Wolosky's Ryan Nebel and Elizabeth Gonzalez-Sussman, as well as Diligent Market Insight's Rebecca Sherratt to discuss our Proxy Season Review 2023.
Ryan and Elizabeth are vice-chairs of the law firm's shareholder activism group.
Among the top findings:
Activists refocus on financials: The number of capital structure, return cash to shareholder, and operational demands increased by 39.3%, 25.9%, and 17.4% globally, compared to a year prior, with activists keen to maximize investor returns amid depressed markets.
ESG suffers a crisis of confidence: Amid increasingly vocal anti-ESG sentiment, support for ESG proposals has been decidedly mixed. Globally, nine (2.4%) E&S shareholder proposals won majority support, compared to 36 (10.1%) in the first half of 2022.
Directors are subject to increased scrutiny: In the first half of 2023, shareholder support for global director elections has declined to 95.6%, compared to 96.4% and 96.1% throughout 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Look out for our countdown of the wildest campaigns which will appear in your podcast feed soon.

Luvut

1. How did universal proxy impact the 2023 season? (00:00:00)

2. Rebecca Sherratt (00:01:15)

3. Ryan Nebel & Elizabeth Gonzalez-Sussman (00:08:05)