Shearman & Sterling LLP 14 | Shareholder Engagement
SHAREHOLDER ENGAGEMENT:
AN EVOLVING LANDSCAPE
INSIGHTS
81% of the Top 100 Companies
made shareholder engagement
disclosures in their annual
proxy statements.
At the 81 Top 100 Companies
that made such disclosures in their
annual proxy statements, the length
of these disclosures was more
often less than one page.
60% of the companies
making shareholder
engagement disclosures
in their annual proxy
statements disclosed the
reasons why they engage.
While shareholder engagement is anything but new, it has become a key
corporate governance topic for most public companies. Once limited to
a few scheduled events per year, it is now more of an everyday task. It is
a broad topic that raises many questions including:
§ When should the company engage with shareholders?
§ Which shareholders should it engage with?
§ Who should be on the engagement team?
§ When should directors engage directly with shareholders?
§ What forums are best for engagement?
§ What topics are appropriate to discuss?
§ Are there topics that are off-limits?
§ Should the company adopt a formal shareholder engagement policy?
§ What role does the company's disclosures play in its
engagement approach?
We focus on these key questions as we highlight the results of our survey
of the engagement practices of the Top 100 Companies.
27
12
9
24
9
1/4 page or less
1/2 page
3/4 page
1 page
Greater than 1 page
Disclose
Do Not
Disclose
Yes
81%
No
19%
49
32
By Stephen Giove
