State Street Global's robust 2017 Stewardship Report includes these and many other noteworthy engagement and voting takeaways:
- Of a total of 2,297 engagements last year, 676 were ESG-related in-person meetings or conference calls - 67% of which were North America-focused. Of those, 85% were driven by SSGA's annual stewardship priorities and its ESG screening (reported on here). 40% were primarily governance-related, and another 31% were mainly executive compensation-focused.
- 84% of the 152 companies that added a woman to their board in response to SSGA's engagement last year were US-based (see here).
- SSGA's US company engagements on cybersecurity and data privacy focused on understanding companies' positioning to "detect and neutralize" attacks, and how boards "shape and oversee" the company's digital strategy and cybersecurity program.
- In its voting on independent chair proposals in the US, SSGA relied on previous company engagements to inform its decision-making - supporting 23% of a total of 44 such proposals.
- The report reiterates SSGA's concerns about quick settlements that encompass activist director appointments and otherwise don't reflect long-term shareholder interests (reported on here).
See also the list of companies engaged by topic in the Appendix. This post first appeared in last week's Society Alert!