Amazon.com faces record challenges at shareholder meeting By Reuters

By Simon Jessop and Ross Kerber

LONDON/BOSTON (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) faces 14 investor resolutions difficult its insurance policies at its annual shareholder assembly on Wednesday, a document for the retail and cloud computing large, as socially minded buyers scrutinize its remedy of employees.

The rise within the variety of resolutions underscores the rise of environmental, social and company governance (ESG)-based investing, which is spurring extra shareholders to push for company accountability.

It additionally displays modifications below securities regulators appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden which have made it simpler for buyers to file proposals and tougher for corporations to persuade regulators that these resolutions mustn’t go to a shareholder vote.

A recent document for such resolutions at an firm will likely be chalked up subsequent week, when Google mother or father Alphabet (NASDAQ:) Inc faces 17 on June 1, mentioned analysis agency Insightia, probably the most because it started monitoring them comprehensively in 2014.

Roughly ten of the shareholder resolutions that Amazon buyers will vote on pertain to employee rights and different “social” points, corresponding to requires the corporate to report on employee well being and security or the remedy of its warehouse employees. The others name for issues like a overview of Amazon’s use of plastic or modifications to the corporate’s course of for board nominations.

Amazon has really useful that its buyers vote towards all 14 resolutions, saying in its proxy assertion that it typically has already acted to deal with the underlying issues of a proposal. Whereas the resolutions are nonbinding, corporations typically take some type of motion in the event that they obtain backing of 30% to 40% of votes solid.

Prime proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Providers has really useful buyers vote for eight of the proposals, whereas Glass Lewis has backed seven of them.

Royal London Asset Administration Ltd, Britain’s largest mutual life, pensions and funding firm, plans to vote in favor of at the very least six of the shareholder resolutions on the Amazon assembly, its head of accountable funding, Ashley Hamilton Claxton, advised Reuters.

Britain’s greatest asset supervisor, Authorized & Normal Funding Administration, and British asset supervisor Schroders (LON:) Plc have additionally declared forward of Amazon’s shareholder assembly they are going to again at the very least among the investor resolutions.

Amazon is a well-liked holding amongst ESG-focused funds. About 32% of funds categorized as selling the atmosphere or social justice below European Union guidelines are invested in Amazon, in response to Jefferies Monetary Group Inc. Solely Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:) constitutes a extra common holding, present in 39% of such funds.

Brandon Rees, a deputy director for the AFL-CIO, the biggest U.S. labor group, mentioned he hoped ESG funds holding Amazon will extra typically assist labor-focused resolutions.

“It is my perception that employee rights and employees have been buried within the ‘S’ of ESG,” Rees mentioned.