Nell Minow founded The Corporate Library, a corporate-governance research firm, in 1999. She is also a movie reviewer for Yahoo. Her favorite corporate movie: 1956's The Solid Gold Cadillac.
As annual-report and proxy season begins, what are the important issues for investors? The most significant issue in proxies this year is the majority-vote resolution. It says a director who does not get a majority of votes from shareholders should not serve on the board. If a company objects, you have to ask, What chutzpah does it take to get behind a director whom a majority of shareholders doesn't want on the board?
How can you spot a good board? It's important not to emphasize the wrong criteria. Insisting on so-called independent directors is compelling. But reacute;sumeacute; independence isn't the same as genuine independence. You can tell more by looking at the chief executive officer's compensation plan. A good definition of independence is knowing how to say no to the CEO. If the board does not get that right, I don't care how spick-and-span their other credentials are.
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What else gets your goat? New rules in effect this year require companies to treat stock-option grants as a compensation expense, reducing earnings a bit each year until the options are fully vested. More than 200 companies accelerated the vesting of options to avoid the expensing rule, including Whole Foods and Xerox. The entire premise for stock-option awards is to provide a long-term incentive. When you accelerate the vesting, you've done away with that and spent shareholder money on something of no value to the company.
Do mutual fund investors have any clout with the companies their funds invest in? Mutual funds must now disclose how they vote their proxies. This can reveal distinctions among money-management firms. You can get this information from fund companies or ask your broker for it. It's worth looking at.
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How Lower Interest Rates Affect Your Finances: Credit Cards, Car Loans and MortgagesThe Fed's rate cut will provide relief for some borrowers, but savers will have to work harder to get decent returns.
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Four Ways to Maximize Your 401(k) Contributions Before the Year EndsTo maximize your 410(k) contributions in 2024, assess how much you’ve contributed so far, check your employer’s match, take a look at your budget and consider increasing how much you set aside per paycheck.
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Best Banks for High-Net-Worth Clients 2024wealth management These banks welcome customers who keep high balances in deposit and investment accounts, showering them with fee breaks and access to financial-planning services.
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Stock Market Holidays in 2024: NYSE, NASDAQ and Wall Street HolidaysMarkets When are the stock market holidays? Here, we look at which days the NYSE, Nasdaq and bond markets are off in 2024.
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Stock Market Trading Hours: What Time Is the Stock Market Open Today?Markets When does the market open? While the stock market does have regular hours, trading doesn't necessarily stop when the major exchanges close.
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Bogleheads Stay the CourseBears and market volatility don’t scare these die-hard Vanguard investors.
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The Current I-Bond Rate Until May Is Mildly Attractive. Here's Why.Investing for Income The current I-bond rate is active until November 2024 and presents an attractive value, if not as attractive as in the recent past.
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What Are I-Bonds? Inflation Made Them Popular. What Now?savings bonds Inflation has made Series I savings bonds, known as I-bonds, enormously popular with risk-averse investors. So how do they work?
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This New Sustainable ETF’s Pitch? Give Back Profits.investing Newday’s ETF partners with UNICEF and other groups.
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As the Market Falls, New Retirees Need a Planretirement If you’re in the early stages of your retirement, you’re likely in a rough spot watching your portfolio shrink. We have some strategies to make the best of things.
