Glass Lewis’s 2018 Proxy Season Preview (U.S.) provides an update that is noteworthy for companies to be mindful of in 2018 and beyond.
Regarding Board Oversight:
In 2018, Glass Lewis will identify the directors who have been assigned specific oversight of environmental and social issues at the committee level, for companies in the S&P500 index.
Glass Lewis elaborates further stating the following:
Along with investors’ focus on board composition, there has been an increasing interest in the skills and competencies held by directors and the oversight responsibilities afforded to material issues at companies. Given the extent to which many companies are exposed to risks related to climate change and other environmental and social impacts, it is unsurprising that one of the key aspects of the New York City Comptroller’s Board Accountability Project 2.0 was ensuring that boards have the skills and expertise necessary to provide proper oversight to issues related to climate change, and environmental and social issues more broadly.
Glass Lewis believes that companies should identify and mitigate, to the best extent possible, material risks related to environmental and social issues. A key aspect of ensuring that these issues receive the appropriate priority at the board level is by providing board level oversight of environmental and social issues. Accordingly, in the coming year, Glass Lewis will begin to capture the directors who have been assigned specific oversight of environmental and social issues at the committee level. Capturing and displaying this data will help investors in ensuring that boards are adequately managing and responding to risks related to environmental and social issues.
Read the full 2018 Glass Lewis Proxy Season Preview, here.