Notice of Exempt Solitication
News
Release
California
Public Employees’
Retirement System ·
400
Q Street ·
Sacramento, California 95814
For
Immediate
Release
|
Contact:
Brad Pacheco/Pat Macht
Office
of Public Affairs
(916)
795-3991
|
March
2, 2007
|
CalPERS
APPLAUDS SUPPORT BY GLASS LEWIS AND ISS
ON
HP PROXY ACCESS PROPOSAL
SACRAMENTO,
CA - The
California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) today applauded
the
support of two major proxy advisor services that recommended a vote in favor
of
a proxy access proposal at Hewlett Packard, and said it will continue its
campaign to urge all HP shareowners to vote for the proposal.
This
week San Francisco, California-based Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholders
Services (ISS) of Rockville, Maryland, released reports that endorsed shareowner
Proposal 3 on HP’s March 14 annual meeting ballot that if passed would give HP
shareowners the ability to nominate directors to the company’s board in a way
that is cost effective and efficient, using company proxy
materials.
“This
is a huge vote of support for shareowners who want to exercise democracy and
nominate directors,” said Russell Read, Chief Investment Officer of CalPERS.
“This reform is needed so investors have a meaningful way to hold accountable
dysfunctional, entrenched boards that harm a company’s ability to generate
long-term value.”
In
its
report to shareowner clients, Glass Lewis outlined a number of reasons behind
its support for the proxy access proposal, including:
| · |
Shareholder
access to the ballot would provide greater board accountability by
encouraging the incumbent HP board members to be more responsive
to
shareholder concerns;
|
| · |
The
ability to submit nominees to a company’s nominating committee is
insufficient, since the board retains the ultimate decision regarding
whether to put the shareholder nominee to the board on the
ballot;
|
CalPERS
·
Office of Public Affairs ·
Phone: (916) 795-3991·
FAX: (916) 795-3507
| · |
The
proposal “provides adequate protections against abuse” by setting forth a
minimum ownership threshold of 3 percent, a minimum holding period
of two
years, and a maximum permissible slate of two directors;
and
|
| · |
Allowing
shareholders a limited right to nominate directors is particularly
appropriate at Hewlett-Packard given the dysfunctional board, as
manifested in the board leaks, the related investigation and its
fallout.
|
In
response to HP’s arguments against the proposal, Glass Lewis said that, “…the
Company is attempting to obfuscate the issue with illusory concerns,” and that
it does not believe the procedure will lead to divisive, costly proxy
contests.
The
report released today by ISS said the proposal “will improve the performance of
boards and, as a result, boost the confidence of investors in
corporations.”
ISS
went on to say that the reform is needed “to right a steeply tilted playing
field on which management and board incumbents dominate the election
process.”
Last
week, CalPERS and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System sent letters
to top HP shareowners urging them to vote for Proposal 3, and this week placed
a
full-page advertisement in the Wall
Street Journal calling
a vote for Proposal 3 a landmark vote for good corporate
governance.
Proposal
3 was submitted by the AFSCME Employee Pension Plan, the New York State Common
Retirement Fund, the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, and the
North
Carolina Equity Investment Fund Pooled Trust.
CalPERS
has 16.5 million HP shares. The System is the nation’s largest public pension
fund with assets totaling more than $230 billion, providing retirement and
health benefits to approximately 1.5 million State and local public employees
and their families.
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