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Shareholder issues turning from niche to norm
As they move towards stewardship rather than simple ownership, shareholders are becoming more active. At the same time, they are adopting a holistic view of what it means to be a successful business today, asking: 'What is the right and ethical way to do business and be successful in the long term?'
Alongside the examination of a board member’s relevance to the company, shareholders will look to assess their likely path (or not) to the top job. Clarity of who is next in line and how and when they will get there will be called for, especially in companies with a long-serving or notable leader. Still fresh in their minds is that it wasn’t long after shareholders called for more detail about WPP’s succession plans that Martin Sorrell retired.
These four critical issues need to be worked on continuously and forevermore: they can’t be addressed meaningfully in a one-off annual conversation. Instead, shareholder engagement should be an open and ongoing dialogue, demonstrating progress to date and the future direction of travel.