The Advisors' Blog

BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS), which is responsible for stewardship activities related to BlackRock index funds, has published its Global Voting Spotlight for the period of July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Here are the key executive compensation-related takeaways from the summary of its voting activity:

– BIS voted on 18,705 executive compensation (management and shareholder) proposals (approximately 12%).

– Concern about the alignment of executive compensation with shareholders’ long-term financial interests was the fourth most common reason BIS cited for not supporting director reelections (impacting 1,063 proposals categorized as director elections at 596 companies).

– In the U.S., pay concerns were driven by “large outside-of-program awards without a strong strategic rationale, limited linkages between pay outcomes and long-term financial performance, or insufficient explanation of how compensation program design supported corporate strategy.”

– BIS supported approximately 84% (15,780 out of 18,705) of compensation-related management proposals overall and approximately 90% in the Americas.

– BIS’s support was “driven by many companies’ clear articulation of how their policies align with shareholders’ long-term financial interests, particularly around how short- and long-term incentive plans complement one another and are effective in rewarding executives who deliver long-term financial value.”

– Meredith Ervine