New Report: Shareholder Proposals on the Rise This Proxy Season

Uptick largely attributable to increasing proxy access campaigns

NEW YORK, NY (4/14/2016) – The 2016 proxy season is underway, and early trends have already begun to emerge. A new report from the Manhattan Institute’s Proxy Monitor highlights early developments and previews what we can expect as the season goes into full swing.

Author James R. Copland predicts that proxy access—the idea that shareholders should have the right to nominate directors to compete with board nominees— will continue to be the most significant issue of the season as it was in 2015. Copland gives an overview of early proxy results, highlighting key trends such as:

• The number of shareholder proposals is up—48 percent higher than the number of proposals introduced in the comparable period in 2015.
• Proxy access proposals have been less likely to receive majority support than in 2015. 4 out of 10 have passed so far this year.
• Besides the four successful proxy access proposals, no proposals have won majority support. Only four proposals involving issues other than proxy access have received more than 30 percent support.

Click here to read the full report.