Investor Perspectives: Critical Issues for Board Focus in 2018

In brief: NACD engages in ongoing dialogues with major U.S. institutional investors and investor representatives as part of its mission to advance exemplary board leadership. Those conversations in 2017 included roundtable discussions between investors and Fortune 500 board committee chairs. This brief summarizes key points of those conversations, detailing what investors deemed critical governance issues boards should consider for the 2018 proxy season. Representatives from BlackRock, CalSTRS, the Council of Institutional Investors, the New York City Office of the Comptroller, and the Vanguard Group, among others, participated in these dialogues.

Investor Perspectives: Critical Issues for Board Focus in 2018 provides an overview of investors’ views that:

• Board composition, skills, and effectiveness continue to be key priorities for investors, with diversity a top concern.
• Major investors desire increased transparency and context around boards’ risk oversight processes.
• Investors are increasingly interested in how boards stay informed about the health of a company’s culture.

Most relevant audiences: Public company directors; chairs of the audit, compensation, and nominating and governance committees; lead directors; general counsel