Future Fund puts companies on notice
AUSTRALIA’S sovereign wealth fund has put company boards on notice that it won’t simply wave through remuneration reports and juicy bonus schemes for chief executives, after it voted against the reports of 23 ASX companies and took aim at countless pumpedup salary deals for some of the nation’s most powerful CEOS and directors.
The Future Fund, which manages $192bn in investments, has let its unease with corporate Australia salary largesse be known through its voting record over the past year where it took aim at equity grants to leading bosses including Premier Investments’
Richard Murray, JB Hi-fi CEO Terry Smart, Seek boss Ian Narev, Platinum Asset Management co-founder and CEO Andrew Clifford and Dexus boss Darren Steinberg.
And while the Future Fund mostly voted against shareholder proposals at AGMS that sought force mining companies to adhere to Paris Agreement climate change guidelines it did vote ‘for’ a move to limit lobbying activity when it was at odds with the Paris Agreement for resources giant BHP and South32.
It also was opposed to equity grants put up by the board of tech play Appen for its CEO Mark Brayan, while other executives or directors also had their share deals voted against such as Magellan Financial director Colette Garnsey and Corporate Travel Management chief operating officer Laura Ruffles.
Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn was luckier, while the Future Fund voted against his controversial $1.6m equity grant package in 2021 it had a change of heart in 2022 to only “abstain” when the item came up at the bank’s annual meeting last October.
Chaired by former federal treasurer Peter Costello, the Future Fund also racked up a long list of Asx-listed companies that it chose to vote against the adoption of remuneration reports.
They included the scandalplagued Crown Resorts, Cleanaway and EML Payments, as well as leading industrial companies such as Dexus, Webjet, IDP Education, Healius, Sealink, Link, Cimic, Viva Energy, Steadfast, IAG and Tyro. There were also many other smaller companies and energy stocks.