Shows
Boardroom Governance with Evan EpsteinRichard Blake: 2024 Silicon Valley 150 Corporate Governance Report(0:00) Intro.(2:09) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.(2:56) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Richard (E126 from Feb 2024).(3:46) About his firm's 2024 SV150 Corporate Governance Report.(9:04) On Virtual (Stockholder) Meetings (89% of SV150).(11:23) Board Committee Structures. Audit, Comp, NomGov, and Others.(14:02) On SV150's approach to ESG, impact of new SEC.(18:53) On the evolution of boardroom diversity, impact of CA laws and Nasdaq Diversity Rule.(21:40) Why private ordering will become more important in corporate governance.(22:28) On dual or...2024-12-231h 01
Just InvestingEp. 3: James McRitchie of CorpGov.netOpen AI announces it's becoming a public benefit corporation, and Adam and Matthew discuss what that could mean for responsible investors. Then legendary gadfly Jim McRitchie of corpgov.net joins us to shed some light on corporate lobbying... and what happens to corporate governance after the elections. Visit www.ucfunds.org. 2024-11-0728 min
Business PantsWOKE WEDNESDAY: Blackrock votes with management (gasp), Jim McRitchie wants more than 10 seconds to vote, Hispanic directors lose, and IT'S TIME TO RECLAIM THE ESG ACRONYMWOKE WEDNESDAY: Blackrock votes with management (gasp), Jim McRitchie wants more than 10 seconds to vote, Hispanic directors lose, and IT'S TIME TO RECLAIM THE ESG ACRONYM2023-08-2538 min
Beyond the BoardroomBest of 2022Welcome to a look back at this year's interviews with industry experts. It has been a packed year so join Kieran Poole as we journey through the class of 2022. Hear from CorpGov's Jim McRitchie, Schulte Roth and Zabel's Ele Klein and Marc Weingarten, As You Sow's Olivia Knight, film director Bruce David Klein, Muddy Waters Research's Carson Block, White & Case's Tom Matthews and Sonica Tolani, The California State Teachers' Retirement System's Aeisha Mastagni, Shareholder Rights Group's Sanford Lewis2022-12-2738 min
Corporate Accountability ForumsJohn Grau Glenn and Michael Levin on ESG via Universal Proxy CardJoin Jim McRitchie, proxy advisor John Glenn Grau and activist investor Michael Levin to discuss ESG via UPC:How can those concerned with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues use new universal proxy card (UPC) rules to run proxy contests? Could electing an ESG director have more impact than winning a dozen shareholder proposals? We use Amazon.com as a potential example.Universal ProxyIn November 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued final regulations requiring companies to use the Universal Proxy Card (UPC), in all contested board of directors elections, or...2022-12-2156 minCorporate Accountability ForumsScott Hirst and Adriana Robertson on Hidden Agendas in Shareholder VotingJim McRitchie, BU Law’s Scott Hirst and UChicago Law’s Adriana Robertson discuss potential conflicts between record date notification and securities lending:Are “hidden agendas” a real problem? How do you deal with it? Do you typically recall all your shares for voting if you engage in share lending or do you recall none of your shares? Recall by company? How do you try to anticipate what issues will be on the proxy?Is this a topic worthy of shareholder proposals? Such proposals could be easily drafted to ask that boards file their proxy or a PRE...2022-08-2757 minCorporate Accountability ForumsBruce Herbert on Changing Investor AwarenessBruce Herbert and Jim McRitchie discuss the growth in responsible investment and changing grassroots investor perspectives, vote-counting in corporate America, and working with celebrity presenters for virtual shareholder meetings.Bruce Herbert is Founder and CEO of Newground Social Investment. NSI is well-known for its ESG-SRI money management, was the nation’s 1st Social Purpose Corporation, and is now the oldest still-independent money manager with a founding focus on ESG-SRI impact investing.2022-04-211h 07Corporate Accountability ForumsBU Law's David Webber on The Rise of the Working-Class ShareholderDavid Webber and Jim McRitchie discuss David's book The Rise of the Working-Class Shareholder: Labor's Last Best Weapon and how to align trillions of dollars in worker pension and retirement assets with the best interests of its beneficiaries. David H. Webber is a Professor of Law and the Associate Dean for Intellectual Life at Boston University School of Law. The winner of Boston University School of Law’s 2017 Michael Melton Award for Teaching Excellence, Professor Webber also coteaches the Pensions and Capital Stewardship course for the Harvard Trade Union program at Harvard Law School. He is a gra...2022-04-111h 04Corporate Accountability ForumsAspen Institute's Judy Samuelson on The Six New Rules of BusinessJudy Samuelson is the founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program. Signature programs under Judy’s leadership include a ten-year campaign to disrupt Milton Friedman’s narrative about corporate purpose, the Aspen Principles of Long-Term Value Creation, and a partnership with Korn Ferry to rethink executive pay. She previously worked in legislative affairs in California and banking in New York’s garment center and ran the Ford Foundation’s office of program-related investments. Samuelson blogs for Quartz at Work and is a Bellagio Fellow and a director of the Financial Health Network.2022-04-041h 12Corporate Accountability ForumsJackie Cook of Morningstar's Sustainalytics on CEO Pay and Gender ParityJackie Cook is Director, Stewardship, Product Strategy & Development in Morningstar's Sustainalytics’ Stewardship services team. Pioneer in applying automated text analysis to building structured datasets from unstructured corporate and investor disclosures. Motivated by a genuine belief in the power of investors and financial markets to move the dial on pressing environmental and social challenges. Follow Jackie on Twitter: @FundVotes2022-04-0253 minCorporate Accountability ForumsLeo E. Strine, Jr. on Stakeholder Capitalism and Lifting Labor's VoiceFormer Delaware Chief Justice and Chancellor Leo E. Strine, Jr. and Jim McRitchie discuss a range of topics involving labor's role in stakeholder capitalism and other effective levers in the pursuit of corporate accountability and stewardship (with apologies to Sir Paul McCartney).2022-03-241h 10Corporate Accountability ForumsCorey Rosen & Jack Moriarty on Leveraging Employee OwnershipCorey Rosen, Jack Moriarty & Jim McRitchie discuss ESOPs and other structures that enable employee ownership and its role in stakeholder capitalism. Compelling research and decades of experience show that employee ownership is in fact a powerful tool to improve corporate performance – but only when companies have “ownership cultures” in which employees think and act like owners.2022-03-2057 minCorporate Accountability ForumsBill Burckart & Meredith Miller on Systemic StewardshipBill Burckart, Meredith Miller & Jim McRitchie discuss strategies and tools designed to address social and financial system challenges through collaborative action, setting industry standards, and creating a rising tide of investment opportunities for all investors.2022-03-041h 10
Outside In with Jon LukomnikJim McRitchie - Gadfly and Rebel With a Cause On Changing Corporate AmericaJim McRitchie, corporate governance advocate, publisher of CorpGov.net and rebel with a cause talks to Jon about growing up in a segregated, sexist, economically isolated bubble, wealth inequality and how he and a small group of passionate, like-minded gadflies are changing corporate America one shareholder proposal at a time.2022-03-0132 minCorporate Accountability ForumsBrandon Rees (AFL-CIO) on Stewardship and Human CapitalBrandon Rees and Jim McRitchie discuss a host of issues related to Big Labor, Worker's Rights, ESG and the AFL-CIO's rich history of corporate engagement.2022-02-271h 19Beyond the BoardroomWhat can we learn from Don't Look Up?Jim McRitchie of CorpGov.net joins Kieran Poole to discuss his 2021 review, the upcoming proxy season, and employee ownership. Plus, Jim tells us why we should all be watching Don't Look Up on Netflix. Want a guest interview or topic discussed? Tell us here. View all of the products offered by Insightia by visiting our website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. 2022-01-1727 min
Boardroom Governance with Evan EpsteinJames McRitchie: The Gadfly Seeking Corporate Change Via Shareholder ProposalsStart of interview [1:30]Jim's "origin story" [2:12]How his experience at CalEPA led him to become a shareholder advocate [6:07]His experience with Mark Latham, a former Berkeley Prof and Salomon Brothers banker on developing and promoting a new shareholder proposal method [8:03]His efforts to get elected to the CalPERS board [11:33]CalPERS and the increasing influence of institutional investors in corporate governance [12:53]"Thirty years ago no shareholder proposal had ever passed." Last year [McRitchie] filed 50 proposals and in 26 of them he got majority vote or else he worked an agreement with the company. [14:21]His Proxy Access petition to the SEC in 2002 [15:28]Why hi...2020-08-1951 min