CIRI and the TSX Trust will be co-hosting our fifth annual event to prepare issuers and their advisors for the 2020 proxy season. During this interactive discussion with proxy advisory firms and institutional investors, we will discuss the top issues for the 2020 proxy season; new ISS and Glass Lewis policies; the growing importance of environmental disclosure; institutional investors’ processes for proxy voting and best practices for engaging shareholders. This event is eligible for 2 CEUs.
Speakers:
Eleanor Fritz, Board of Governors, University of Guelph
Ms. Fritz was Director of Compliance & Disclosure at Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) before retiring in December 2016. In this role, she managed the department responsible for ensuring issuer compliance with TSX requirements related to continued listing, timely disclosure, corporate governance and director and officer suitability. During her 27-year career at TSX, she held various positions involving listed issuers from a regulatory, business development and relationship management perspective. She currently sits on the Board of Governors for the University of Guelph and serves as their Chair of the Governance and Human Resources Committee, she also serves as Co-chair of the Issues Committee of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute and previously sat on the Continuous Disclosure Advisory Committee of the Ontario Securities Commission, was a member of the Sustainability Working Group of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Ontario Chapter Executive of the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Derek Butcher, Senior ESG Analyst, RBC Global Asset Management
Derek first joined RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM) in 2015 as a Proxy Voting Analyst in the Corporate Governance & Responsible Investment (CGRI) group. Now, as the CGRI group’s Senior ESG Analyst, Derek is responsible for assisting the investment teams with their ESG integration processes, managing, documenting and tracking the firm’s ESG engagement activities and overseeing the firm’s proxy voting. Prior to joining RBC GAM, Derek worked as a researcher for one of the world’s leading responsible investment research providers, conducting ESG research across markets and providing clients with customized responsible investment products. Derek is a CFA® charterholder and holds an MBA (2014), from Odette School of Business, University of Windsor; Masters in Environment and Sustainability (2012), University of Western Ontario; B.Sc (Honours) – Biological Sciences (2010), University of Windsor.
Julian Hamud, Director, Executive Compensation Research, Glass Lewis & Co.
Julian Hamud joined Glass Lewis in 2013 and currently manages the specialized research team analyzing North American compensation issues, including proposals relating to Say-on-Pay and equity plans. He previously covered executive compensation for the UK and Israel, and frequently leads or participates in engagements with corporate issuers regarding Glass Lewis’ practices and marketplace trends. Julian holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from San Francisco State University, where he focused on movements related to transparency and governance, and served as a reviewer for the department’s academic journal. Julian is fluent in Spanish and English.
John Vizikas, Associate Vice President, Canadian Research, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
John joined ISS in 2014 and has over 12 years of experience in corporate governance and ESG research. He is responsible for providing corporate governance and proxy research on some of Canada's largest companies and is involved in ISS' policy development and formulation process. John also specializes in contested M&A situations and proxy contests. Prior to joining ISS, he worked as a senior research analyst at GMI Ratings, a corporate governance and ESG ratings and research provider, where he led a group of international research analysts. John holds a Master of Business Administration (Financial Management) and a Master of Science (Investment Management) from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University.
Timing:
11:45 - 12:15 - Registration, networking & lunch
12:15 - 1:45 - Proxy discussion
Pricing:
Free for CIRI members and non-members.
This event will be offered by webcast as well. To register for the webcast, click here.