July 21, 2014
Say-on-Pay: Stats from ISS Voting Analytics
– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com
As the 2014 proxy season comes to a close, ISS Voting Analytics has taken an in-depth look into key statistics for shareholder voting. Some of the most interesting stats include (these stats came from a report you have to pay for):
– Say-on-pay proposals at a record high of 2,229, a 14.4% jump in the volume of advisory pay votes from 1,948 in 2013
– Average support level for the 2014 say-on-pay proposals at a record 91.7% of votes cast, up slightly from 91.5% in 2013
– Only 51 of the 2,229 proposals failed to win majority backing. The majority of the 51 that failed did so for the first time. However, 14 failed at least once in the past, with 11 of those failing in 2013. One company failed for a third year in a row, while 2 others failed four years in a row.
The global average for shareholder support on say-on-pay is on par with that of the US, standing at 91.7% for the 2014 proxy season. The highest levels of 2014 support for say-on-pay support by country, as tracked by ISS Voting Analytics, are:
– Norway, 96.3%
– Italy, 95.6%
– Ireland, 95.0%
The lowest are:
– Bermuda, 82.3%
– Switzerland, 87.6%
– Belgium, 88.6%