Below are key takeaways from ISS’ recently released 2021 Canada Proxy Season Preview. The full report is available to institutional subscribers by logging into ProxyExchange then selecting the Governance Exchange and its Report Center tab and to corporate subscribers by logging into Governance Analytics then selecting the Governance Exchange and the Report Center tab.
- Virtual meetings will be the predominant meeting format for the 2021 proxy season. The hybrid meeting format could become a more prominent feature in post-pandemic Canada.
- Executive compensation will be under higher investor scrutiny, especially at companies with lagging share price recoveries and in cases where employee layoffs and furloughs occured.
- Ethnic and racial diversity is becoming a focus board room issue in addition to gender diversity.
- Regulatory changes that will significantly impact the 2021 proxy season are not in the pipeline; however, looking beyond 2021, significant regulatory changes are expected, including legal majority voting and mandatory advisory say-on-pay.
- Going-private transactions will continue to be under high investor scrutiny as initial bids are perceived as opportunistic due to low valuations.
If you are not a subscriber, please contact sales@issgovernance.com (for institutional investors) or contactus@isscorporatesolutions.com (for corporations) to learn more about accessing bespoke governance research.
