Caterpillar shareholders vote on company policies, directors this week

PEORIA — An investment group that previously pressured Caterpillar Inc. to alter executive compensation formulas is asking shareholders to once again nudge the board of directors in a different direction at the company’s annual meeting this week.

CtW Investment Group wants shareholders to endorse strengthened executive compensation clawback provisions — giving stockholders more ways to recoup money from company officers found to have been negligent or to have engaged in misconduct.

CtW, which promotes investor activism by working with the pension funds of a federation of unions representing 5.5 million members and more than $200 billion in assets, also seeks more transparency from Caterpillar when clawbacks occur.

By Matt Buedel 
Journal Star Caterpillar/industry reporter 
Posted Jun 11, 2017 at 4:55 PM

Updated Jun 11, 2017 at 5:51 PM

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Exxon Mobil's executive pay plan gets thumbs down from top proxy adviser

Exxon Mobil shareholders should not support the continuation of the oil major's executive payment program, influential proxy advisory ISS has determined.

The advisory says the company's payment structure for its CEO is out of step with current market standards, and Exxon offers too little detail on the criteria for bonuses.

"Exxon's executive pay program has remained largely unchanged for the better part of a decade. What has not remained constant over this period, however, are prevailing market practices and investors' expectations around executive compensation and related disclosure," it concluded.

Tom DiChristopher | @tdichristopher

Friday, 19 May 2017 | 2:19 PM ET | CNBC

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Early Proxy Results Signal Investors Want Annual Say on Executive Pay

Shareholders strongly favor maintaining annual say-on-pay votes, even though the majority of investors back company executive compensation plans, according to a report from ISS Analytics, a unit of the nation’s biggest proxy adviser.

Investors this year get to weigh in on how frequently companies should seek their opinion on executive remuneration plans. This is the second time shareholders get to decide on the frequency of the executive compensation approval ballot since 2011, when the rules first came into effect. Investors could opt to hold the vote annually, once every two years, or every three years.

By 

TATYANA SHUMSKY

Jun 1, 2017 2:18 pm ET Wall Street JournalRead more here.

CEO pay climbed faster last year, up 8.5 percent

The typical CEO at the biggest U.S. companies got an 8.5 percent raise last year, raking in $11.5 million in salary, stock and other compensation last year, according to a study by executive data firm Equilar for The Associated Press. That's the biggest raise in three years.

The bump reflects how well stocks have done under these CEOs' watch. Boards of directors increasingly require that CEOs push their stock price higher to collect their maximum possible payout, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index returned 12 percent last year.

(AP)

Stan Choe, Associated Press May 23rd, 2017

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ISS pressures Mylan ahead of shareholder vote

Influential proxy firm ISS on Monday turned up the heat on Mylan NV, advising its institutional clients to voice their dissatisfaction with the generic drugmaker's board of directors and its chairman's pay package at its June 22 shareholder meeting.

ISS's urged votes against 10 board members and executive pay packages, recommendations that come after a small group of high-profile investors, including the state and city of New York pension funds and the California teachers pension fund, urged other shareholders to vote against six board members and Chairman Robert Coury. It cited Mylan's eroding reputation and share price.

BUSINESS NEWS | Mon Jun 12, 2017 | 12:19pm EDT

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