US investors happy to show their disapproval of executive compensation
New York — US investors are showing a greater willingness to express their disapproval over executive compensation. Seven S&P 500 companies garnered less than 50% of the votes for their executive-pay plans in the most recent fiscal year, up from six in 2015 and four in 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Many of the largest institutional investors have publicly aired their views on corporate governance in recent years and taken firmer stances on compensation plans deemed to be excessive. BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, publicly criticised drug maker Mylan in June for failing to address investors’ repeated complaints about executive compensation, side-stepping its usual practice of refraining from singling out companies for criticism. "If the vote is lost, it means the company has not made that phone call to investors, and if it did, it didn’t listen to what they said," Anne Simpson, head of corporate governance at California Public Employees’ Retirement Syst...
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