Shareholder Influence at the Largest Companies Globally
Half of the 100 Largest US and European Companies Are Impacted by ESG Shareholder Proposals, with Governance is Mainly Targeted. 01 October 2021
Bruno de Roulhac of L’AGEFI penned an article citing our 2021 Market Update study. While activist campaigns have been limited in this sample of companies – except for Elliott at GlaxoSmithKline and Engine No. 1 at Exxon Mobil – investors have preferred to make their voices heard directly by filing a shareholder proposal.
Half of the 88 companies in the sample received at least one external ESG-related resolution. Seven European companies concerned: Siemens, Novo Nordisk, Deutsche Telekom, Rio Tinto, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and HSBC. On the other hand, out of 131 proposals filed, 123 are addressed to US companies. However, the trend is given and is gradually reaching Europe. “After the arrival of organizations such as Follow This, which has filed resolutions with the major European oil groups, European investors want to show that they are not greenwashing,” stated SquareWell Partner, Louis Barbier. One shareholder proposal out of two concerns governance, followed by Social issues (38%) and Environmental issues (10%). Governance is the first lever to activate,” explains Louis Barbier.
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