Kingsdale Advisors, North America’s leading strategic shareholder advisory firm, today released key questions and insights that every North American company and board need to consider ahead of their 2023 annual general meeting, including changes to the Canada Business Corporation Act (CBCA).
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“The 2023 AGM season is shaping to be an unprecedented one as public companies are simultaneously impacted by rising inflation, economic uncertainty, potential recession, increasing cybercrime and ransomware, the Russia-Ukraine war, on-going COVID-19 and global supply chain issues, and new ESG and gender diversity requirements and regulatory changes,” said Ian Robertson, CEO of Kingsdale Advisors. “While economic uncertainty may have temporarily paused activities, these trends are pointing to a banner year for activism as history has shown that when markets experience a significant downturn, activism tends to surge in the following 12-18 months. It is pertinent for board members and business leaders to be well-prepared, proactively address governance issues and have an on-going shareholder engagement strategy in place to avoid surprises from third-party proxy advisors or voting shareholders.”
The 10 key questions are:
- Have you addressed the strict gender diversity requirements from proxy advisors?
- Is your executive compensation in line with your company’s performance?
- Have you shown accountability for climate-related issues?
- Is it time to break up with your auditor? (Your shareholders might think so)
- Are your directors suited for your company’s current situation and future challenges?
- How robust are your succession plans?
- Are you prepared for an increase in shareholder proposals?
- Is the voter turnout at your meeting declining?
- Are you prepared for a cyber security incident?
- Is your defence playbook up-to-date and do you have the right fight team in your corner?
For full insights, download Kingsdale’s 2023 AGM Checklist.
About Kingsdale Advisors
With offices in Toronto and New York, Kingsdale Advisors is the leading advisor to public companies on all shareholder, governance, and transaction-related matters, having acted on the largest and highest profile proxy fights, transactions, and other special situations. For 20 years, public companies across North America have looked to the expertise of Kingsdale Advisors to secure the success of transactions or resolutions driven by shareholder votes. Kingsdale Advisors’ multidisciplinary team offers an array of specialized services focused on strategic and defensive advisory, governance advisory, compensation advisory, strategic communications, and voting analytics.
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