BUSINESS
By Hanah Cho, The Baltimore Sun | July 11, 2011
An influential shareholder guidance group is advising Legg Mason investors to vote against the Baltimore company's $5.9 million compensation package for Chairman and CEO Mark R. Fetting. Glass, Lewis & Co., which provides guidance on proxy proposals, gave Legg a "D" grade in pay for performance, saying the Baltimore asset manager's compensation package is out of line with its results. "In light of the company's track record of overpaying its executives and failing to promote a long-term focus among [its top paid executives]
NEWS
By David Wood and David Wood,Sun reporter | August 14, 2008
WASHINGTON - In the early 1990s, the United States began beefing up Georgia's army as the tiny republic gained its independence from the collapsing Soviet Union - an effort accelerated after 9/11 in what President Bush said was a fight against al-Qaida. That "train and equip" program is part of a growing, global American initiative to bolster military forces in such unlikely and unstable places as Ethiopia. Chad, Albania, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Lebanon and Yemen. Cease-fire Russian military reportedly violates truce.
BUSINESS
By CHARLES JAFFE | July 15, 2008
You can't blame investors for being a bit paranoid about fund management, thinking that the brass always puts shareholder interests last. The problem with that line of thinking is that it's tough to figure out those times when management really is out to get you. That's why some investors took the release of the largest-ever study on mutual fund proxy voting as a sign that fund firms are in the pocket of Corporate America, while others suggested the...
BUSINESS
By CHARLES JAFFE and CHARLES JAFFE,MARKETWATCH | April 15, 2008
Don't be pressured to vote fund proxies. Over the past few weeks, several readers dropped me lines to say that they had been surprised by ugly calls from Fidelity Investments about their mutual fund accounts. They wanted to know how to respond. Fidelity wasn't really checking up on shareholders and trying to make sure everything is all right - which is how some of the investors first took the call - but rather was calling to drum up proxy votes. Specifically, Fidelity needs shareholders in many of its mutual funds to vote on a shareholder proposal that would make the firm's investments "genocide-free," avoiding companies known for extreme abuses of human rights.
BUSINESS
By Jonathan Peterson and Jonathan Peterson,LOS ANGELES TIMES | November 29, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Companies will continue to have broad authority to block investors from playing a bigger role in electing members of corporate boards, federal regulators ruled yesterday. The 3-1 vote by the Securities and Exchange Commission drew rebukes from investor activists, who say average shareholders are virtually powerless to deal with board members who aren't looking out for their interests. "Responsible management need not fear its shareholders," said Commissioner Anne L. Nazareth, who cast the lone dissent.
NEWS
By Maurice Possley and Maurice Possley,Chicago Tribune | May 20, 2007
KALISPELL, Mont. -- By her own count, Sarah Knapton has been "married" more than 250 times. So when she recently took her vows before Municipal Judge Heidi Ulbricht, it was just another day for her. "I do," she said, and at that, Ulbricht pronounced her married, by proxy, for the umpteen time to the man by her side, Kyle Kirkland, a former high school classmate. It wasn't an altar; Knapton and Kirkland really weren't married to each other. In fact, Knapton has a steady boyfriend, and Kirkland is happily married to someone else.