2025 U.S. Proxy Season: Midseason Review Finds Sharp Drop in Shareholder Resolutions on Ballot
Copied to clipboard
Below is an excerpt from ISS-Corporate’s recently released article “2025 U.S. Proxy Season: Midseason Review Finds Sharp Drop in Shareholder Resolutions on Ballot”
Copied to clipboard
As May 22 is the peak of the U.S. proxy season, with 137 Russell 3000 companies expected to hold annual meetings today, ISS-Corporate has examined early trends in shareholder proposals and executive compensation. The shareholder proposal landscape has drastically changed this proxy season – notably, the total number of proposals submitted and voted on has decreased drastically while the number of proposals omitted has risen. Governance proposals remain common, although their focus has shifted. While fewer environmental and social proposals have made the ballot, those related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain popular. This analysis reviews Russell 3000 companies with annual meetings between January 1 through June 30 for each year since 2021.
Key Takeaways
Total shareholder proposal submissions have dropped while the number of omitted proposals has increased sharply.
Governance-related resolutions remain the most common type on the ballot.
Despite a significant decline in environmental proposals being voted on, resolutions related to GHG emissions, generally requesting enhanced disclosure, remain common.
Median CEO pay is at an all-time high for both S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies.
Say-on-Pay support levels have declined slightly. While overall support remains strong, there are signs of trouble ahead.
The products and services described on this website are provided by entities within the ISS STOXX group and may be subject to different regulatory frameworks. These entities are separate, but affiliated, subsidiaries of ISS STOXX GmbH.
Stewardship Solutions, which consists of ISS STOXX Governance and ISS STOXX Sustainability, are provided exclusively by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS Inc.”) an Investment Adviser registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. ISS Inc. provides its investment advisory services exclusively to institutional clients and does not serve the retail marketplace at this time. Additional information about ISS Inc., including its advisory services, fees, and conflict mitigation practices, is available in ISS’ Form ADV which is accessible through the SEC’s website at sec.gov and also our Compliance page.
All solutions under Indices including STOXX services, such as indices and benchmark data, are provided by STOXX Ltd. and are governed by the EU Benchmark Regulation.
The solutions listed below, which are offered by ISS Market Intelligence, are provided by Asset International Inc and/or its subsidiaries, and are not considered investment advisory services under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
MarketPulse, Market Pro, Media Solutions and Market Sage cover data, analytics, research, insights, media, and market engagement solutions to the financial services industry.
FundServices (“FWW”) solutions provide fund data, fund analytics, structured fund information and licensing services for financial institutions, distributors and asset managers.
LiquidMetrix services include transaction cost analysis, execution quality assessment, and market surveillance.
ISS Market Intelligence’s class action solutions are provided by Securities Class Action Services, LLC and are not considered investment advisory services under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
ISS-Corporate services are provided by ISS Corporate Solutions, Inc. These services are not considered investment advisory services under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
This communication and all of the information contained in it, including without limitation all text, data, graphs and charts, is the property of ISS STOXX GmbH and/or its subsidiaries and is provided for informational purposes only. The information may not be modified, reproduced or redisseminated, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from ISS STOXX. All statistics referenced in this document are approximate and updated on an annual basis and, unless otherwise noted, relate to the year ending December 31, 2025.
None of the information included in this communication constitutes an offer to sell (or a solicitation of an offer to buy), or a promotion or recommendation of, any security, financial product or other investment vehicle, and ISS STOXX does not endorse or approve any issuer, securities, financial products.
ISS STOXX MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION.
