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Labrador's newly-released Proxy Statement Benchmark review of 238 of the Fortune 250's (as listed in the Appendix) proxy statements filed between September 1, 2016 and August 31, 2017 reveals these - among many other - noteworthy findings and associated firm insights:   

- Board Composition

• A majority of companies highlighted their directors' experiences and qualifications in some manner.
• 69% of companies included director nominees' photos, which the firm identifies as a best practice.
• 33% included a board skills & qualifications matrix. Some other companies disclosed skills on an aggregated rather than individualized level.
• 37% of companies used graphics to break down board tenure.
• 12% used graphics to depict directors' ages.
• 21% used graphics to highlight the number of women on the board.
• New trend observation: Using graphics or tables to describe the board evaluation process 

- Shareholder Engagement

• 57% included disclosure about their shareholder engagement efforts.
• Best practice insight: Using infographics that highlight the feedback received and responsive actions taken, and including in the Governance section of the proxy the broad theme of engagement in the form of "who, why, when and what" 

- ESG

• Half the companies included a discussion on their sustainability efforts. 

- Compensation

• 61% included a "what we do and don't do" table to describe their compensation practices
• 49% used graphics to highlight company performance. 

- Readability

• 67% of companies included a proxy summary - up from 36% five years ago. 

Also noteworthy: Labrador expects pay ratio disclosures to vary considerably - ranging from bare minimum disclosures to expansive narratives and use of graphics - and disclosure placement to vary widely from the most unobtrusive location in the proxy, to emphasis in the proxy or CD&A summaries.