EIGHT years after the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) launched its proxy voting policy, more than 50% of the JSE-listed companies in which it is invested are still not adhering to its guidelines on executive pay.On Friday, the PIC, which manages R1.8-trillion of government-related pension funds and holds about 12.5% of the JSE, released its proxy voting record for the two quarters to end-March 2016. The PIC attended the annual general meetings of 78 companies. It voted against the remuneration policy of 49 of those companies, meaning 63% of its investee companies failed to meet a key requirement of one of their most important investors.The record shows the PIC had little effect on boardroom attitude to remuneration. In many cases, the companies were not first offenders. The records belie the argument that gentle persuasion by fund managers is the most effective way to change boardroom behaviour. The PIC may have to consider something more robust than the erratic disclosure of it...
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