The course is set prior to the AGM: the growing importance of governance activism
The decisive interaction between shareholders and issuers increasingly takes place throughout the year in so-called engagement discussions rather than at the general shareholder meetings. These engagements generally involve members of the board of directors and are requested predominantly by international institutional shareholders. Engagement discussions decisively influence issuers’ governance structures and are increasingly indispensable for companies to counter the standardized views of some market participants, in particular proxy advisors. This empirical finding is one of the key results of the SWIPRA Corporate Governance Survey 2017. Investors continue to criticize the disclosure of performance-related compensation in this year’s survey and are, contrary to previous years’ views, increasingly willing to express their discontent in binding votes on compensation amounts. Moreover, investors perceive the disclosure on corporate social responsibility of Swiss issuers credible, though they are looking for better transparency regarding the responsibilities of the board of directors in this field.
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Presentation of key findings - Download
Previous Surveys
Presentation Survey 2016 - Download
Presentation Survey 2015 - Download
Presentation Survey 2014 - Download
Presentation Survey 2013 - Download