{"id":49943,"date":"2024-08-06T03:42:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T07:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/?p=49943"},"modified":"2025-03-17T15:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T19:02:14","slug":"2024-austria-agm-season-review-key-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/2024-austria-agm-season-review-key-takeaways\/","title":{"rendered":"2024 Austria AGM Season Review Key Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&rdquo;&rdquo;]\n<div title=\"Page 2\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #e1251b;\">2024 Austria AGM Season Review &ndash; Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>For the most important Austrian listed companies (&ldquo;ATX Prime&rdquo;), Alliance Advisors has analyzed all available voting results for AGMs held between 1 January 2024 until 31 July 2024, for all cases where also the recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis were available.<\/p>\n<p>This meant that we could compare the voting results of 37 companies for the purposes of this report.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e1251b;\">Executive Remuneration-Related Items<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>For 37 different <strong>remuneration reports<\/strong>, ISS recommended 24 times against and Glass Lewis 17 times against them. This also includes 15 times where both <a href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/%e5%a7%94%e4%bb%bb%e7%8a%b6%e3%83%ad%e3%82%b8%e3%82%b9%e3%83%86%e3%82%a3%e3%82%af%e3%82%b9%ef%bc%86%e3%83%90%e3%83%bc%e3%83%81%e3%83%a3%e3%83%ab%e6%a0%aa%e4%b8%bb%e7%b7%8f%e4%bc%9a\/\">Proxy Advisors<\/a> recommended against the same report. The lowest support of such an item was at 48.5% of the votes cast only, and the average support being 88.7% of the voted shares cast.<\/li>\n<li>For the 20 different <strong>remuneration policies<\/strong>, the situation is similar. ISS recommended to vote against 14 times and Glass Lewis recommended 10 times against the adoption of a new policy. This also includes 9 times where both were against the same report. The lowest support was 47.6% of the votes cast, and the average support 91.1%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e1251b;\">Supervisory Board (Re-)Elections<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A total of 69 directors have been (re-)elected to the supervisory board at Austria&rsquo;s top companies.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>31 of these 69 candidates were <strong>female (=45%)<\/strong>. ISS recommended against 18 of these candidates and Glass Lewis four times. In all these four times, also ISS was against. The lowest support was 85.3% of the shares voted and the average support was at 94.3%.<\/li>\n<li>38 of these 69 candidates were <strong>male (=55%)<\/strong>. ISS recommended to vote against them 25 times and Glass Lewis 13 times. In all these 13 times, also ISS was against. The lowest support was 77.4% and the average support was at 93.4%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e1251b;\">Discharges<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The discharge voting has an outstanding importance in Austria. First, supervisory board members are not elected on an annual basis. Second, the management board members are appointed, but not elected.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For the <strong>management board<\/strong> discharges, in all cases ISS and Glass Lewis recommended to support the <a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_AGM (Annual General Meeting) and EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting)\"  aria-describedby=\"tt\"  data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;Agenda&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt; A structured outline of topics and activities to be covered during an AGM or EGM, including...&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div id=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_articles&amp;quot; class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_articles_wrapper&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_title cmtt_related_articles_title&amp;quot;&gt;Related Articles: &lt;\/div&gt;&lt;ul class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;li class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_item&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&amp;quot;https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/officer-exculpation-amendment\/&amp;quot;&gt;Case Study: Amendment for Officer Exculpation. Shareholder Meeting Advisory, Institutional Investor Intelligence, Retail Outreach&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;li class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_item&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&amp;quot;https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/post-shareholder-meeting-engagement\/&amp;quot;&gt;Case study: Say on Pay &amp;#8211; Stock Option Plan&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;\/ul&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryTooltipMoreLinkWrapper&gt;&lt;a class=glossaryTooltipMoreLink href=https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/agenda\/ &gt;Read more...&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\"  data-link=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/agenda\/\"  href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/agenda\/\"  data-mobile-support=\"0\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>agenda<\/a> item. The lowest support was at 84.4% and the average support at 95.8%.<\/li>\n<li>For the s<strong>upervisory board<\/strong> discharges, in all cases ISS has been in favour, with Glass Lewis against one. The lowest support was at 84.2% and the average support at 94.9%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div title=\"Page 3\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e1251b;\">Virtual AGMs<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A total of 17 companies have renewed their authorization to hold virtual and\/or hybrid AGMs.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Both ISS and Glass Lewis supported them all. The lowest support was at 83.7% and the average support at 95.4%.<\/li>\n<li>Only one company limited the authorization until 2026, whereas five companies limited it until 2027, 10 companies until 2028 and two companies until 2029.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Interestingly, whereas in neighbouring Germany such related bylaw changes were highly contested, especially if the authorization was for more than two years, in Austria the <a href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/%e5%a7%94%e4%bb%bb%e7%8a%b6%e3%83%ad%e3%82%b8%e3%82%b9%e3%83%86%e3%82%a3%e3%82%af%e3%82%b9%ef%bc%86%e3%83%90%e3%83%bc%e3%83%81%e3%83%a3%e3%83%ab%e6%a0%aa%e4%b8%bb%e7%b7%8f%e4%bc%9a\/\">proxy advisors<\/a> and investors apply less rigid guidelines.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e1251b;\">Decrease of Supervisory Board Size<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Three companies asked their <a href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/%e5%8b%a7%e8%aa%98%e3%83%bb%e6%a0%aa%e4%b8%bb%e3%82%a8%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b2%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b8%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%88\/\">shareholders<\/a> to approve a decrease of their supervisory board.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In all cases, ISS and Glass Lewis have been in favour, and the support was always at or close to 100%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Interestingly, our observations for the German market (&ldquo;MDAX&rdquo;) have shown three similar authorizations, but with the scope of <strong>increasing<\/strong> (not decreasing) the supervisory board size.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One company has increased to six, one to seven, one to eight members.<\/li>\n<li>In all three cases, both ISS and Glass Lewis have been in favour, and the average support was at 98.3%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #e1251b;\">What Is Next?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/%e5%8b%a7%e8%aa%98%e3%83%bb%e6%a0%aa%e4%b8%bb%e3%82%a8%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b2%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b8%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%88\/\">Shareholders<\/a> are becoming more engaged and vocal, demanding transparency, accountability, and alignment with their expectations on issues like compensation or board diversity. Companies need to adapt by enhancing transparency, demonstrating strong <a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_Corporate Governance Advisory\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;Corporate Governance&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt; The system of rules, practices, processes, and structures by which a company is directed and...&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div id=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_articles&amp;quot; class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_articles_wrapper&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_title cmtt_related_articles_title&amp;quot;&gt;Related Articles: &lt;\/div&gt;&lt;ul class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;li class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_item&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&amp;quot;https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/officer-exculpation-amendment\/&amp;quot;&gt;Case Study: Amendment for Officer Exculpation. Shareholder Meeting Advisory, Institutional Investor Intelligence, Retail Outreach&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;li class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_item&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&amp;quot;https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/alliance-advisors-acquires-lha\/&amp;quot;&gt;Alliance Advisors, LLC acquires LHA Investor Relations&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;\/ul&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryTooltipMoreLinkWrapper&gt;&lt;a class=glossaryTooltipMoreLink href=https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/corporate-governance\/ &gt;Read more...&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\" data-link=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/corporate-governance\/\" href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/corporate-governance\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">corporate governance<\/a>, and addressing shareholder concerns to maintain investor support. Boards play a crucial role in this process and are expected to proactively form a relationship with the relevant <a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_Institutional Shareholder\"  aria-describedby=\"tt\"  data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemTitle&gt;Stewardship&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt; The responsible and active oversight of investment holdings by institutional shareholders to...&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div id=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_articles&amp;quot; class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_articles_wrapper&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_title cmtt_related_articles_title&amp;quot;&gt;Related Articles: &lt;\/div&gt;&lt;ul class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;li class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_item&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&amp;quot;https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/officer-exculpation-amendment\/&amp;quot;&gt;Case Study: Amendment for Officer Exculpation. Shareholder Meeting Advisory, Institutional Investor Intelligence, Retail Outreach&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;li class=&amp;quot;cmtt_related_item&amp;quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&amp;quot;https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/post-shareholder-meeting-engagement\/&amp;quot;&gt;Case study: Say on Pay &amp;#8211; Stock Option Plan&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/li&gt;&lt;\/ul&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;div class=glossaryTooltipMoreLinkWrapper&gt;&lt;a class=glossaryTooltipMoreLink href=https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/stewardship\/ &gt;Read more...&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\"  data-link=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/stewardship\/\"  href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/glossary-index\/stewardship\/\"  data-mobile-support=\"0\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>stewardship<\/a> teams prior to the next Shareholder Meeting Season.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst some institutional investors will only file their voting behaviour from votes submitted at <a href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/%e5%8b%a7%e8%aa%98%e3%83%bb%e6%a0%aa%e4%b8%bb%e3%82%a8%e3%83%b3%e3%82%b2%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b8%e3%83%a1%e3%83%b3%e3%83%88\/\">Shareholder Meetings<\/a> in 2024 in late Q3 of 2024, we anticipate that the engagement efforts of Austrian corporates will have to address these concerns. The aim needs to be to provide further transparency and explanatory information to prove that the feedback of investors has been heard and incorporated.<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to receive our suggestions on how to tackle your shareholder dissent prior to your next Shareholder Meeting, please <a href=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/%e3%81%8a%e5%95%8f%e3%81%84%e5%90%88%e3%82%8f%e3%81%9b\/\">contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section css=&rdquo;.vc_custom_1716540341709{padding: 20px !important;background-color: #f1f1f1 !important;}&rdquo;][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&rdquo;&rdquo;]Alliance Advisors has built a team of industry specialists with deep experience relating to all our product lines. If you would like to receive a copy of our reports and reviews in future, please enter your details in the form below.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]<style>.vcex-newsletter-form.vcex_68e484f4116d4 .vcex-newsletter-form-wrap{width:600px;}<\/style><div class=\"vcex-newsletter-form vcex-module wpex-flex wpex-max-w-100 vcex_68e484f4116d4\"><div class=\"vcex-newsletter-form-wrap\"><form action=\"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.us17.list-manage.com\/subscribe\/post?u=7b6c51574cd7a20b61f9e0084&amp;id=ff9d243557&amp;f_id=00f866e0f0%20method=post%20id=mc-embedded-subscribe-form%20name=mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpex-flex\"><label class=\"vcex-newsletter-form-label wpex-text-current wpex-flex-grow\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Enter your email address<\/span><input class=\"vcex-newsletter-form-input\" type=\"email\" name=\"EMAIL\" placeholder=\"Enter your email address\" autocomplete=\"off\" required><\/label><button type=\"submit\" value=\"\" class=\"vcex-newsletter-form-button wpex-flex-shrink-0 theme-button\">Sign Up<\/button><\/form><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;] 2024 Austria AGM Season Review &#8211; Key Takeaways Fo&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":49966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[383],"tags":[],"post_series":[],"ppma_author":[467,645],"class_list":["post-49943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whitepapers-ja","entry","has-media"],"authors":[{"term_id":467,"user_id":36,"is_guest":0,"slug":"a-horstmeier","display_name":"Angelika Horstmeier","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53f6b73a8b5b895fdbf50193c79d89b401bf2ca64402144094954dcf6e759c8f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"Angelika","last_name":"Horstmeier","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""},{"term_id":645,"user_id":52,"is_guest":0,"slug":"s-barbato","display_name":"Sandro Barbato","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e624b484087e8f4f0c72dca38c0a3631a0250712cf597e9480457f74129913a3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"Sandro","last_name":"Barbato","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49943"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56466,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49943\/revisions\/56466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49943"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=49943"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allianceadvisors.com\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=49943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}