So far this year, 6 of 30 environmental proposals and 10 of 107 social proposals have passed, according to the latest ESG shareholder proposal study from Georgeson.
"The companies I've run across and worked with are all looking for ways to be 'best in class' corporate citizens in this area, and are open to engaging in a dialogue about what they can do better, and what it takes to be leaders," said Marc Treviño, co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell's corporate governance practice.
15% of workers—most in the government sector—still have defined-benefit plans. But for job-seekers under 40, pensions should not carry as much weight as they did decades ago.
For both investment-grade and below-investment-grade public companies, debt refinancing and working capital improvements had great effect in 2020 and 2021.