Patrick McGurn
Patrick McGurn
campus cited companies corporate decline efforts few general governance proposals protest publicly reason recent responsibility social traded
Very few educational institutions have filed corporate governance or social responsibility proxy proposals at publicly traded companies in recent years. The reason for this is not clearalthough the general decline in campus protest efforts is sometimes cited as the cause.
abide amount bad drive ethics falls high love rises sad save
It's always so sad because you love those Horatio Alger stories, and then someone rises up that high and falls so far. Ultimately, this is about ethics, and no amount of drive is going to save you if your ethics are so bad and you're not going to abide by the law.
change definitely issue spreading velocity
The velocity of change on this issue is tremendous. It's definitely spreading quickly.
bonus cash company felt primary problem
We felt the primary problem at this company was with the cash bonus program.
anger board notice people taken
There is still a lot of anger out there, but people have taken notice of what the board has already been doing.
aligned closely less likely performance raise seem seems
While these payments may seem eye-popping, it seems more closely aligned with the company's performance and is less likely to raise the ire of shareholders than in years past.
control exhibit gradual past pay speed starting
Boards, frankly, are just getting up to speed in many instances on what they've done in the past and are really just starting to exhibit some control over the pay practices. It's going to be a gradual process.
adequate bang ceos everybody limited
This is not a right-left, Republican-Democrat, man-woman, old-young issue. Everybody thinks, with some very limited exceptions, that CEOs are overpaid, and because of that, shareholders aren't getting adequate bang for their buck.
board case company control creating element key number plan seats seeking strategy value
This is particularly the case if a dissident is seeking control of the board or a substantial number of seats - an alternative strategy and plan for creating value at the company is going to be a key element of our evaluation.
bridges build repair sovereign time
Sovereign has a lot of bridges to build with institutional investors. It's going to take time to repair their image.
fill recruit surprised
If they were going to fill it from inside, I would have thought it would be done already. I wouldn't be surprised if they go out and recruit a new director.
grants market peak sales
So many stock-option grants were made at the peak of the market that we'll be working our way through these sales for some time.
deeper demanding level market people start warren
When Warren is gone, the market will start demanding coverage. People will want a lot deeper level of analysis.
companies less percent talking
As ratios go, that's actually pretty low; we're talking in the less than 10 percent range, which is where we want companies to be nowadays.