Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Toronto, is at odds with CalSTRS and the Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, in their voting on the executive compensation plan of Barrick Gold Corp., according to their proxy-voting disclosures.
The C$201.5 billion ($182.6 billion) CPPIB will vote against the executive pay.
“While Barrick has made progress in strengthening the alignment of interests between management and those of shareholders, we believe that the company has not adequately addressed key shareholder concerns related to its co-chair’s compensation,” according to a CPPIB statement with its disclosure. “We continue to be concerned with the company’s practice of granting outsized awards on a largely discretionary basis, which we believe is inconsistent with the governance principle of pay-for-performance. In accordance with those views, we have voted against the advisory resolution on executive compensation.”
John L. Thornton, current co-chairman, is set to succeed Peter Munk as chairman, who plans to retire. The board intends to approve the succession following the meeting, according to the company’s proxy materials.
The $183.3 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System, West Sacramento, and the $177.9 billion FSBA will vote in favor of the compensation package.
But CalSTRS will oppose the election as directors of Ned Goodman, a first-time nominee, and J. Brett Harvey, who is lead director.
The FSBA will oppose William D. Birchall, Gustavo Cisneros and Dambisa Moyo. FSBA withheld its votes on Mr. Birchall “because he also serves as a member of the executive management of the company and therefore is considered an insider serving on the board,” according to an FSBA statement. “We withheld for director nominees Cisneros and Moyo because they both have served on the board for more than one year and do not own any company stock.”
All are independent directors, except for Mr. Birchall and Mr. Harvey.
The CPPIB will vote in favor of electing all nominees for director. It holds 217,264 Barrick shares valued at $3.7 million.
FSBA owns 1.7 million Barrick shares, valued at $30.3 million.
Further information regarding CalSTRS wasn’t available.
Barrick’s annual meeting is Wednesday.
