This Month
- Analysis
- Carbon challenge
Woodside treads impossibly fine line on climate demands
Whether new oil and gas projects can align with the Paris Agreement is central to the oil and gas producer’s stoush with activists and some proxy advisers.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Woodside slams Glass Lewis’ carbon assessment
The proxy adviser appears to have based its views on two activist groups holding up to 0.005 per cent of the stock and ignored Woodside’s extensive talks on climate, it said.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Proxy group at odds with itself over Woodside’s Richard Goyder
The sustainability arm of Institutional Shareholder Services is recommending against the re-election of the company’s chairman – contradicting its main analyst.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
High-profile analyst accuses CGI Glass Lewis of activism on Woodside
Saul Kavonic, of MST Marquee, said the influential proxy advisory group “appears to have lost objectivity and equity in its work”.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Allan Gray will disregard proxy advice and back Goyder at Woodside
The investment firm is a big shareholder in the oil and gas giant. It is supporting its climate strategy in the face of opposition from environmentalists.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
‘Unequivocal failure’: Activist fund tries to unseat Larry Fink
Bluebell Capital Partners is proposing to oust the BlackRock founder as chairman of the world’s largest asset manager.
- Updated
- Brooke Masters
Influential proxy adviser urges vote against Woodside chairman
CGI Glass Lewis also supported an activist shareholder group push to reject the oil and gas producer’s updated climate strategy at the company’s annual meeting.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
March
Jet costs cloud proxy adviser support for Santos
CGI Glass Lewis raised “concerns” over the use of a corporate jet for top management, but it and ISS backed both the remuneration report and chairman Keith Spence’s re-election.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
Woodside rebuffs activist push against chairman on climate
The board said it “strongly disagrees” with activist shareholder groups seeking to block Richard Goyder’s re-election and to reject the remuneration report.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
February
Activist shareholder opposes re-election of Woodside chairman
The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility says Richard Goyder has been “persistently unresponsive” to concerns about Woodside’s performance on climate.
- Updated
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
January
Exxon sues ESG investors to stop climate proposals on ballot
The Texas oil giant is seeking a declaratory judgment to exclude from its AGM a proposal from Follow This and Arjuna Capital to accelerate emission cuts.
- Kevin Crowley
- Opinion
- Oil
BP went for continuity. But it needs a revolution
Why are investors so down on the company? BP is spending generously on lower-return projects outside its core oil and gas businesses.
- Javier Blas
Shell investors unite with activist group urging greater emissions cut
The group, which includes Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi, will co-file a shareholders’ resolutions pushing Shell to align itself with the Paris Agreement.
- Laura Hurst
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Shake up directors’ fees for sake of investors
Activists are creating headaches for boards and non-executive directors, but promise better shareholder returns. And that’s a good thing.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
Santos investor Snowcap calls for big premium on deal with Woodside
But the London-headquartered activist investor things a combination of the two oil and gas majors into a global player “seems attractive”.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
December 2023
Origin takeover to be voted down after 13-month saga
The battle over the fate of the ASX utilities giant will finally come to a head on Monday, when Brookfield and EIG’s deal is expected to fail at a shareholder vote.
- Joshua Peach and Primrose Riordan
November 2023
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
Activists’ $30b challenge to AusSuper on Origin
An open letter to CEO Paul Schroder asks the industry fund to match Brookfield’s pledge to invest $30 billion in clean energy or stop blocking the Origin takeover.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith
October 2023
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
This is how to make 16pc a year as an activist investor
Endeavour, Whitehaven, Magellan – spot fires are breaking out everywhere. Viburnum, one of the oldest Australian activist investors, tells us how it operates.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Updated
- Whitehaven Coal
Hedge fund inflicts a hit on Whitehaven Coal over pay
Forty per cent of investors voted against the coal miner’s remuneration report in a revolt led by London fund manager Bell Rock.
- Updated
- Aaron Patrick and Peter Ker
- Updated
- Whitehaven Coal
Whitehaven accuses Bell Rock of controlling twice the shares it claims
But the Takeovers Panel has declined a request from the coal miner to disqualify votes cast by the hedge fund at its annual meeting scheduled for Thursday.
- Peter Ker