Top US Public Pensions Oppose Choi Yoon-beom’s Director Nominees
ISS and Korea ESG Standards Institute Favor MBK-Youngpoong’s Agenda,
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, The largest public pension funds in the US, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), opposed the adoption of the cumulative voting system, a core agenda item at the Korea Zinc special shareholders’ meeting.
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, According to the investment banking industry on the 16th, CalPERS and CalSTRS disclosed their voting results for the Korea Zinc special shareholders’ meeting agenda through their websites. Both opposed the “Amendment of Articles to Introduce the Cumulative Voting System.”
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, The two institutions also opposed the appointment of all seven outside director candidates recommended by Chairman Choi Yoon-beom. They only supported the appointment of 4 candidates among the MBK Partners-Youngpoong side nominees.
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, As of 2022, CalPERS manages $463 billion (approximately 674 trillion KRW), making it the largest public pension fund in the US. CalSTRS, the second-largest, manages $307 billion (approximately 447 trillion KRW) for California teachers and educators as of 2022.
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, Their vote aligns with the recommendation from global proxy advisory firm ISS on January 9, which advised institutions against supporting the introduction of the cumulative voting system for Korea Zinc’s special shareholders’ meeting agenda. ISS cited concerns that it could unintentionally dilute the reform plans pursued by the MBK-Youngpoong side. It also opposed the candidates recommended by Chairman Choi.
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, The Korean proxy advisory firm Korea ESG Standards Institute also recommended against the adoption of the cumulative voting system on January 14, supporting only the director candidates from the MBK-Youngpoong side.
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, Meanwhile, global proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis and domestic advisory firm Sustinvest expressed support for introducing the cumulative voting system.
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