Over 550 investors, companies, and other market stakeholders from around the world provided input on timely corporate governance, ESG and stewardship matters

San Francisco, Limerick, November 9, 2023 – Glass Lewis, a global leader in corporate governance and proxy voting, released the findings from its first-ever Policy Survey, which was conducted in August and September 2023. All Glass Lewis clients – investor and corporate – were invited to participate. Through its survey – along with its industry-leading global engagement program and other critically important market initiatives – Glass Lewis seeks to better understand stakeholder sentiment on timely governance, ESG and stewardship matters in order to best align its Benchmark Voting Policy Guidelines to its clients’ expectations.

In total, Glass Lewis received 140 responses from institutional investors, and 417 responses from corporate issuers, corporate advisors, shareholder advocates and other stakeholders. The survey questions spanned a variety of areas, including executive compensation, ESG and shareholder proposals, capital structure/voting rights, and director commitments, among others. Below are notable findings from the survey.

  • Investors view financial results, excluding total shareholder return (TSR), and incentive payouts relative to TSR as the most important factors when reviewing executive pay-for-performance alignment.
  • Overwhelmingly, respondents indicated that companies should set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets. However, there was a split on exactly which companies should set targets — and exactly which types of targets they should set.
  • More than 40% of investors would vote against boards that use plurality voting for uncontested director elections, and over two-thirds view the practice as problematic.
  • Most investors believe all board-level roles should be considered when assessing whether directors’ commitments are overstretched.

“Amid rapidly evolving regulatory requirements, industry standards, and investor expectations, adding our Policy Survey as another valuable mechanism to gather market perspectives enables us to enhance our policy review process and provide more meaningful research analysis,” said Eric Shostal, senior vice president of research and engagement at Glass Lewis. “We’re grateful to the more than 550 professionals that took the time to provide input on important governance matters.”

Later this month, Glass Lewis will release its 2024 Benchmark Voting Policy Guidelines for the U.S., Canada, UK, and Continental Europe. In addition, the company will issue its 2024 ESG Initiatives Policy Guidelines, covering shareholder proposals. By mid-December, the company will publish its guidelines for additional local markets. The 2024 Benchmark Voting Policy Guidelines will apply to shareholder meetings held after January 1, 2024.

To access Glass Lewis’ 2023 Client Policy Survey, please visit here.

About Glass Lewis

Founded in 2003, Glass Lewis is a leading global provider of independent corporate governance, stewardship, and proxy voting solutions. The firm serves more than 1,300 investment managers and pension funds globally, who use its high-quality corporate governance and ESG research and proxy voting software to carry out their fiduciary duties. Glass Lewis also helps companies understand and implement corporate governance best practices and how investors view them. Headquartered in San Francisco, Glass Lewis has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, and Australia. For more information, please visit www.glasslewis.com.

Contacts

Sarah Cohn
+1 646 826 3752
scohn@glasslewis.com

Dimitri Zagoroff
+1 415 694 5165
dzagoroff@glasslewis.com