By Niket Nishant
(Reuters) -Institutional Shareholder Companies (ISS) has requested BlackRock buyers to vote against the asset supervisor’s executive compensation plans, escalating tensions after a slender win final yr for its high administration’s remuneration packages.
Whereas BlackRock gathered suggestions in 2024 from its 50 largest shareholders after securing about 58% assist for its compensation plan final yr, its efforts to handle their issues fell brief, proxy adviser ISS mentioned.
After studying that some shareholders opposed one-time awards, the asset supervisor shunned granting any in 2024, in accordance with a proxy submitting earlier this month.
Nevertheless, the corporate had not addressed how shareholders’ suggestions will inform future choices round one-time awards, ISS mentioned.
BlackRock additionally engaged with buyers to debate the context behind a personal markets-driven long-term incentive for its CEO Larry Fink.
However the proxy adviser identified that the corporate had not offered assurances that such discussions would happen earlier than any important compensation adjustments sooner or later.
BlackRock’s annual assembly is scheduled for Might 15, the place three administration and two shareholder proposals will likely be up for vote. Whereas the vote on administration pay isn’t binding, important opposition might nonetheless affect future choices.
The asset supervisor didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark outdoors common enterprise hours.
Disputes between proxy advisers and monetary heavyweights over company governance points have escalated lately. ISS had additionally urged rejection of one-time inventory awards to the highest two executives at Goldman Sachs, however shareholders permitted that final week.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has argued that proxy advisers typically wield “undue affect”.
Shareholder activist campaigns in North America fell 7% within the first quarter from the identical interval a yr earlier, in accordance with information from Diligent Market Intelligence.
Nevertheless, the decline was much less extreme than in Asia, which noticed a 37% drop.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Modifying by Shounak Dasgupta)
