Concerns About the Quality and Influence of Proxy Advisors, and Its Implications for the Preparations of the Shareholders Meeting

Abstract

After highlighting the importance of the votes cast by institutional investors in shareholders meetings of listed companies, and the role proxy advisors play in this respect, this article turns to the points of criticism that are strongly emphasized in American literature, as well as to the state of regulation on both sides of the Atlantic, also including the stern action the SEC has been taken recently with respect to proxy advisors. On the basis of a questionnaire issued to Dutch listed companies, I shed light on the perception of listed companies of the actions of proxy advisory services. I will conclude with a few reflective remarks, also about the consequences of the growing role of proxy advisors for the preparation of the shareholders meeting dynamics surrounding the shareholders meeting.