The Advisors' Blog

As we enter the height of annual meeting season, you may be getting questions about say-on-pay trends across the market. Here are Semler Brossy’s observations from say-on-pay votes as of late April:

• The current Russell 3000 average vote result of 92.1% is 150 basis points higher than the index’s 2025 full-year average

• The current S&P 500 average vote result of 91.6% is 220 basis points higher than the index’s 2025 full-year average

• The current Russell 3000 average vote result is 50 basis points higher than the current S&P 500 average vote result

• These initial summary vote results continue a multiyear trend of positive early-season vote support; it is still a small sample and summary results are likely to change over the course of the year

• 6.9% of Russell 3000 companies and 5.0% of S&P 500 companies have received an ISS “Against” recommendation thus far in 2026

• It is still early in the proxy season; the Russell 3000 ISS “Against” recommendation rate started lower (5.0%) at this time last year and increased over the course of the proxy season

Here’s what the write-up says about equity plan support so far:

• Average vote support for equity proposals thus far in 2026 (87.3%) is 220 basis points below the average vote support observed at this time last year (89.5%)

• No companies have received vote support below 50% in 2026

• ISS has recommended “Against” 29.7% of equity proposals, which is 240 basis points below the 2025 full-year rate (32.1%)

• Average support for equity proposals that received an ISS “Against” recommendation thus far in 2026 (76%) is aligned with average vote support observed for companies that received an ISS “Against” in the past decade (75%)

– Liz Dunshee