Advice for ...

We are well positioned to advise across a broad range of corporate governance and related issues.

We can help you:

Make sense of investor and proxy advisor expectations
Engage effectively with your investors and the firms who advise them e.g. proxy advisors, sustainability ratings providers

Our founder worked in senior roles at one of the world’s largest companies from 2008 to 2022.

Examples of work:

Activist investor response
Investor ‘listening tour’ for newly appointed Chairman
Investor engagement following tailings dam failure
Climate change – closely involved in development of approach across a range of areas, including scenario analysis, scope 3 reporting, decarbonisation target setting, just transition, Climate Transition Action Plan and accompanying ‘Say on Climate’ vote
Corporate structure – multiple aspects of dual listed company structure
Executive pay restructure
Response to non-endorsed Board candidate
Response to shareholder proposals
Annual program of pro-active engagement with investment stewardship teams
Engagement with proxy advisers and sustainability ratings providers

Our depth of experience working in the corporate sector enables us to provide investors with insights not available from traditional advisers.

We can help you:

Engage with companies in a truly impactful way
If you have two proxy advisors and their recommendations conflict
Unpack the key elements of complex company proposals e.g. corporate structure changes; climate transition action plans
Unpack the key elements of shareholder proposals
Examine the granularity of company performance in a range of areas e.g. decarbonisation, executive pay
Engage with your organisation's own board on important responsible investment issues

Our founder did his doctorate on the role of institutional shareholders in corporate governance. This led to:

Extensive academic research in the field while a professor at the University of Melbourne
A number of research projects commissioned by investor organisations such as ACSI
Co-founding the governance advisory firm Proxy Australia – which was acquired by ISS and became ISS's Australian office in 2005

We can help regulators and standard setters seeking a deeper understanding of how investor engagement works in practice.

This is informed by the experience outlined in the Listed companies and Investors sections.

In addition, our founder:

Served on the Board of ICGN from 2013 to 2019, and led its Nomination Committee from 2020 to 2022. ICGN is a global investor-led organisation whose mission is to promote effective standards of corporate governance and investor stewardship
Was a member of the Executive Committee of GC100 – the voice of general counsel and company secretaries working in FTSE 100 companies – from 2015 to 2021. GC100 is actively involved in reviewing and commenting on a wide range of regulatory reform proposals.
Was a member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Business Consultative Panel, 2006 to 2008
Co-chaired the Climate Action 100+ Investor & Mining Companies working group, 2020 to 2022
Co-chaired the GC100 and Investor Group that wrote the Directors’ Remuneration Reporting Guidance, 2016 to 2021
Is a member of the Best Practices Principles Oversight Committee. This Committee provides independent oversight of the self-regulatory standards adopted by a number of large proxy advisory firms