Proxy Insight's survey of 70 institutional investors and other stakeholders* about companies' responsiveness to the crisis revealed important indicators as respects perceptions of current performance and going forward expectations across a variety of trending topics including investor communications, crisis planning, capital management, and virtual shareholder meetings (VSM).
VSM takeaways include:
- As to VSMs generally, more than 82% of respondents affirmed their support for virtual meetings if certain standards are met to protect shareholder rights compared to just over 58% that affirmed their support of this format without the "shareholder rights" caveat. This compares to 81% who affirmed their support for hybrid meetings.
- Few respondents expect meetings to revert to pre-crisis mode, as shown here:
This implies that investors may have benefited from the greater access and participation opportunities associated with this year's VSMs in a way can't be matched with the in-person-only format subject to ensuring shareholder rights on par with an in-person meeting.
Also notable: Just ~8% reported dissatisfaction with companies' efforts to date to minimize disruption and just ~10% with companies' investor reporting. The majority of respondents expressed satisfaction on both fronts.
*Respondents consisted of asset managers (58), asset owners (12), research/advocacy groups (7), law firms (6), government/regulator, (1) and union group (1).
See our recent reports: "Investors Give Guidance to CEOs" and "COVID-19 Responsiveness: Investor Engagement" and additional information & resources on our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources page under Disclosure / Communications. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!