Apple Inc., bowing to pressure from the California Public Employees' Retirement System and other shareholders, agreed to start electing its directors by majority votes rather than a plurality.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook, speaking today at an annual investor meeting, also said Apple was continuing "active discussions" about what to do with its $97.6 billion in cash and investments, saying the cash hoard was "more than we need to run a company."

Investors at today's meeting passed a nonbinding measure in favor of the board-election change. A similar initiative was approved at the gathering last year, though it wasn't adopted by Apple. The company changed its stance after previously saying that the change would cause board members to lose their seats in cases where too few shareholders cast votes.