The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (CCMC) and Nasdaq partnered again this summer for a survey of public company experiences with proxy advisory firms during the 2018 proxy season. This is the fourth annual CCMC/Nasdaq proxy season survey, and it is intended to help policymakers understand how public companies have navigated the 2018 season. One hundred sixtyfive (165) companies completed this year’s survey. If there is a theme to the survey results this year, it is that notwithstanding the 2014 SEC guidance, few material improvements have been observed in the proxy advisory system. Companies are bringing more issues to the attention of proxy advisory firms, but they still find it difficult to engage in constructive discussions that lead to better informed voting recommendations. Conflicts of interest still pervade the industry, and many report a lack of transparency into how recommendations are developed. We believe that this survey will serve as an important tool to help inform policymakers about the next steps of reform for the proxy advisory industry.
