Large Mutual Funds Fail to Support Proxy Access

UPDATE (March 14, 2016): Shortly after the release of the Proxy Access Scorecard, Vanguard announced a key change to its policy on proxy access. The mutual fund company will now generally support “proxy access” proposals with ownership thresholds of 3% of a company’s shares. Read more about the change in this Reuters article.

January 26, 2016
The Nathan Cummings Foundation released today the Proxy Access Scorecard, an analysis of how mutual funds voted on the key issue of “proxy access” at the annual meetings of 84 corporations in 2015. Proxy access allows shareholders to use a company’s proxy statement to nominate candidates for election to its board of directors and is seen as a key vehicle for enhancing board accountability. The Scorecard, compiled with data drawn from Fund Votes and analysis done by the 50/50 Climate Project, exposes a deep division in the mutual fund industry’s approach to proxy access.

Click Here to View Scorecard
Click Here to View Press Release