Mendenhall Urges Independent Audit of Alabama Pension Proxy Votes Over $0 Transparency Gap
Updated
Updated · 1819 News · Aug 24
Mendenhall Urges Independent Audit of Alabama Pension Proxy Votes Over $0 Transparency Gap
1 articles · Updated · 1819 News · Aug 24
Summary
Allen Mendenhall called for an independent third-party audit of the Retirement Systems of Alabama’s proxy voting, arguing trustees should prove votes served beneficiaries’ financial interests rather than assume they did.
RSA’s voting record matters, he said, because pension funds often delegate billions of dollars in voting power to asset managers and proxy advisers without publicly verifying how those votes were cast.
Two firms — Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis — were singled out as a proxy-advice duopoly that can steer institutional votes and let a fund’s actual conduct drift from its stated principles.
Half of Heritage Foundation proposals filed last proxy season were withdrawn after companies changed course or said practices had ended, while proposals that reached a vote often failed after the advisers declined to recommend them.
Alabama’s Open Records Act may already expose some proxy-vote data, and Mendenhall said rising public, legislative and potential legal scrutiny will force pension-voting reforms if fiduciaries do not act first.
How might mandatory independent audits of proxy votes alter the relationship between public pension systems and major advisory firms?
Could the push to audit proxy voting records redefine fiduciary duties and corporate governance standards for institutional investors nationwide?
With advanced voting technology available, why do public pension funds still struggle to transparently prove their proxy votes align with beneficiary interests?