Further to our prior report: "Proxy Disclosure & Design Trends" Labrador's new report: "2018 Proxy statement benchmark analysis" expands on the results of its analysis of 238 of the Fortune 250 proxy statements (companies listed in Appendix A) filed between January 1 and August 15, 2018, with guidance on investor-friendly design, format, and disclosure enhancements, and an abundance of additional noteworthy trends, including these board composition & diversity-related findings:
- 71% included photos of the directors, up from 69% last year
- 10 companies disclosed that they have a diversity policy
- 29% include an individualized skills matrix
- 26% include an aggregated skills matrix
- 16% used icons to describe skills & qualifications, up from 11% last year
- 41% included a graphic to highlight gender diversity
- 49% used graphics to depict their board tenure, compared to 37% last year
- 20% used graphics to depict directors' ages, up from 12% last year
- 13% used graphics to illustrate the nomination process, compared to 9% last year
- 16% used graphics to illustrate the evaluation process, up from 6% last year
Looking ahead, the report identifies human capital management (HCM) disclosure as top-of-mind for investors like BlackRock, which reportedly concurred with the proxy statement HCM disclosure "wish list" captured in Davis Polk Ning Chiu's post: "Top Ten Human Capital Topics of Interest to Investors."