Offentlig mening har stor betydning for stemmeafgivning

Pensionskasser og andre institutionelle investorer har det med at lytte meget til den offentlige mening, når de skal stemme på børsnoterede selskabers generalforsamlinger vurderer forskere i forskningspapiret ”Influence of Public Opinion on Investor Voting and Proxy Advisors” hvori det hedder, at ”We examine the evolution in voting patterns across firms over time. We find that investors have become more independent in their voting decisions, voting less with the recommendations of management or proxy advisors. Even when the proxy advisor recommends voting against a proposal, we find that over time investors are more likely to ignore the recommendation. Moreover, we also find that proxy advisory recommendations have become more supportive of shareholder proposals. Our main contribution is to examine the role of public opinion in influencing shareholder voting. We show that public opinion on corporate governance issues, as reflected in media coverage and surveys, is strongly associated with investor voting, particularly mutual fund voting.”