Shareholder voting: When the PIC said ‘no’
The investment firm’s voting record shows it questioned the independence of Steinhoff Africa Retail directors
The Public Investment Corp (PIC), which manages almost R2 trillion of assets, voted against a record-breaking nine resolutions at the first ever AGM of Steinhoff Africa Retail (Star) in mid-March. Star, which is the African retail arm of Steinhoff International and is in the process of being renamed Pepkor, accounted for 14% of the PIC’s "no" votes at AGMs in the three months to March 2018. The publication of the PIC’s voting record for the first quarter — within a few months of the reporting period instead of several months to a year later — marks a welcome return to the early days of the PIC’s shareholder activism. In 2008 the PIC was the first institutional investor to disclose how it voted at shareholder meetings. As the largest asset manager in SA, it was able to compel other institutions to follow suit. Sanlam is now the only large institution that refuses to disclose its voting. In total, the PIC declined to support 64 of the 539 resolutions it voted on during the three month...
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