Cisco Systems shareholders on Nov. 12 will vote on a proposal to require an advisory say-on-pay vote each year, introduced by Christian Brothers Investment Services and supported by CalPERS and the Florida State Board of Administration.
“Our resolution urges Cisco’s board to allow shareholders to provide direct feedback about senior executive compensation by establishing an annual vote,” Julie Tanner, CBIS assistant director of socially responsible investing, said in a statement. “At CBIS, we and our clients believe that this is a ‘best practice’ in board accountability.”
Cisco opposes the proposal, saying in a separate statement, “passage of this proposal is unnecessary because shareholders already have more effective ways to communicate their views on executive compensation directly to the compensation committee of the board of directors, and premature in light of proposed legislation (in Congress) relating to ‘say on pay’ that we believe likely will be enacted in the near future.”
Another proposal at Cisco sponsored by Boston Common Asset Management calls for the board to report on corporate actions “to reduce the likelihood its business practices might enable or encourage the violation of human rights,” according to the resolution.
Cisco also opposes the proposal, noting in the statement that its business practices, codes of business conduct, and employee policies and guidelines “are designed to and strive to promote … freedom of expression, privacy and other fundamental personal freedoms.”
The $196.6 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, and the $133.7 billion Florida board, Tallahassee, will vote in favor of the say-on-pay proposal but against the human-rights proposal, according to separate statements by the pension funds.
