News and views

Continued increase in the percentage of issued share capital voted

Equiniti's December ezine has highlighted a number of talking points from 2011's AGM season. There has been a continued increase in the percentage of issued share capital voted (68% in the FTSE 350 in 2011, compared with 65% in 2010) and a reduction in late voting.They also state that when it comes to voting issues, unsurprisingly, it is director remuneration which continues to be the most contentious, even if, on average, 94% of votes are ultimately cast in favour.

Meanwhile, Equiniti report that the proposal to present the full board for re-election was new for 2011, and one taken up by 90% of the FTSE 100 (compared with 61% of the FTSE 250) with board composition/diversity – with just 15% and 9% of board members female for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies respectively-  likely to be a hot topic for 2012.

However, the hottest of topics for shareholder questions continues to be remuneration. And this is the case not only for private shareholders, but, increasingly for institutional investors too. Finally there is continued debate over the efficiency of the proxy voting chain – including some interest at EU level.

So lots going into the new year!