An Insider's View of Shareholder Activism

The number of shareholder resolutions is rising steadily each year, as are the votes in favor of them. This year, about 150 out of the 200 filed will be voted on. 10 percent or so are dropped because companies successfully show the SEC they affect day-to-day business, not policy. Another 25 percent are dropped as a result of a successful negotiation with the company. Resolutions must win 6 percent or more of the vote to be raised again the following year. Most resolutions don’t garner more than 6-12 percent of the vote. No matter how much of the vote they get, resolutions are always advisory.

So, why bother? Companies are sensitive to potential bad publicity. Bringing a resolution to the floor often brings company officials to the table. Here’s a sample of some of recent successes:

* Mitsubishi decided against a planned salt factory in a gray whale calving site in Baja, California;
* Citigroup and other retail lenders ended certain predatory lending practices and the industry is phasing out mandatory credit insurance;
* Ames Department Stores is ending all purchases of goods made in Burma;
* Coke is increasing its level of recycled content in new plastic beverage containers to 10% by 2005;
* General Electric set 20 percent higher water and energy efficiency standards for its washers by 2004; 35% higher by 2007.

The vote at BP Amoco against drilling in sensitive areas like Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge is April 18.

Hain Celestial GMO Resolution
Last June, Clean Yield, a socially responsible money manager, co-filed a resolution with Hain Celestial Foods on behalf of a client concerned about genetically modified ingredients in food. The resolution asked the company to report on the “risks, financial costs and benefits, and environmental impacts of the continued use of genetically engineered crops.”

Hain Celestial owns about a dozen companies including Celestial Seasonings, one of the pioneers of the natural products industry. Even though Hain Celestial promotes organic and non-GMO products, its products are not certified GMO-free. The shareholder concern is that the company’s leadership position will be diluted as it adds more mainstream brands like Weight Watchers.

Clean Yield found the company to be less than responsive when asked to provide information and to return phone calls. They are still waiting to receive a copy of the company’s GMO policy. That conversation was a month ago.They traveled from Vermont to the Melville, Long Island headquarters for the December 11 annual meeting and learned that each speaker would be allotted only three minutes.

Rona Fried of SustainableBusiness.com and Ron Stein of the Good Harvest Financial Group spoke in addition to Rick Hausman of Clean Yield. “When I think of Hain Celestial,” remarked Rona Fried, president of SustainableBusiness.com, “I think of Stoneyfield Farms, Ben & Jerry’s and Tom’s of Maine – the original pioneers in the natural foods community. They have taken a strong stand against GMOs. To retain your leadership position, especially as natural foods goes mainstream, you too need to take a strong stand.”

Even though the audience of about 40 people mostly consisted of people associated with Hain, there was a round of applause after the speakers made their case. Six percent of the vote would have been considered a victory – the final tally was over 23 percent, by far the strongest support for any GMO-foods initiative in the U.S.!

Afterward, in informal discussions, Simon, Mo Siegel (the highly regarded founder of Celestial Seasonings and now a Hain board member), offered assurances that the company would continue its efforts to be at the forefront. Clean Yield believes that Hain is more likely to assert its leadership on the GMO issue in the future because of this resolution.

Excerpted from Clean Yield: www.cleanyield.com