With the impacts of COVID-19 hitting just as the season took off, “fraught” was the watchword of 2020’s annual meetings. Understanding that these were challenging times, proxy advisers and activist investors, while not mute, were more lenient than they might otherwise have been.
To help you prepare for 2021, the key themes we focus on in this report are:
- Annual meeting logistics: What is best practice for running annual meetings this year? What can be learnt from last year’s approach and how have expectations changed a year into the pandemic?
- Engagement: How does the pandemic affect how to engage with investors and proxy advisers?
- Regulatory changes: What’s new in 2021 and how should companies prepare?
- Environmental and social governance: COVID-19 wasn’t the only issue to turn the business world on its head this year. What social developments will shareholders be asking questions about this year?
- Executive compensation: Many companies face a conundrum – should they reward good performance for top executives or refrain from doing so considering the current climate?
- Conclusion: All these changes mean that we’re seeing the development of the “integrated annual meeting.” Find out what we mean by this term.
Have questions?
EQ has answers.