The annual proxy for this pharmaceutical company had the following proposals:
- Proforma votes on directors, appointment of auditors, and “say-on-pay” advisory vote
- Shareholder proposals on written consent and allocation of corporate tax savings
Magni voted as follows:
- For proforma proposals.
–Directors – The disclosures in the proxy meet the criteria in Magni’s policy on election of directors.
-Auditors – There appear to be no controversies with the financial statements of the company.
-“Say-on-pay” – The proxy disclosure contained information on both the shareholder engagement program and the peer group. - Against shareholder proposals.
–Written consent – Per the Magni position paper, Magni routinely votes against these proposals.
-Allocation of corporate tax savings – Companies in portfolios of Magni clients tend to be well governed, hence Magni delegates the oversight of financial decisions to the board, unless there is a specific reason to engage with the company. The shareholder proposal did not identify problems with the company’s prior financial decisions. As a result, Magni does not see a need to engage and votes against the proposal.
