The survey highlights three areas of concern for investors looking ahead to the 2018 annual meeting season:
- Clear articulation of a company’s business strategy and goals
- Directors’ skills, qualifications, experience and individual contribution to the effectiveness of the board
- Detailed business rationale for board decisions and their alignment with strategy and financial performance
And the results also revealed the following:
- Investors will prioritize directors’ skills ahead of gender or ethnic diversity
- Unjustified pay will come under intense scrutiny
- Investor collaboration around broader Annual Shareholder Meeting topics will increase exponentially
- Institutional Investors will be increasingly likely to support a credible activist story
- ESG issues are either fully integrated or progressing towards full integration with investment decision-making
- Investors will seek enhanced disclosure around materiality and sustainable metrics linked to long-term business strategy
