Research reports

Sponsored by FW Cook

Corporate Secretary’s ‘Executive compensation: Insight on companies’ governance’ report reveals findings from a survey conducted among in-house governance professionals such as general counsel, corporate secretaries and their teams. The results provide useful insight into, among other things, which members of the board are involved in compensation oversight, the extent to which outside advisers are used, the impact of Covid-19, investors’ interest in the space, director engagement and linking executive compensation to ESG. The findings in this report are based on an online survey conducted between December 2021 and February 2022.

By downloading this report, you will learn about issues such as:

• Who plays a role in executive compensation discussions
• The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic
• Board members’ engagement with investors on executive compensation
• Whether boards are tying compensation to ESG metrics.

Click to read Executive Compensation: Insight on companies’ governance

Sponsored by Nasdaq Governance Solutions

Corporate Secretary’s ‘Succession planning: Preparations for the inevitable’ report presents data collected from a survey conducted among in-house governance professionals such as general counsel and corporate secretaries. It provides important insights into, among other things, who typically is in charge of succession planning, who and what is included in plans and how often boards review their company’s plans. Findings in this report are based on data from an online survey conducted between December 2021 and February 2022.

By downloading this report, you will learn about issues such as:

• Which elements of boards are responsible for succession planning
• What considerations are included in plans
• Investor interest in succession planning and how it is changing
• Governance professionals’ levels of confidence in their company’s plans.

Click to read CS Succession Planning

Sponsored by Q4

Corporate Secretary’s ‘ESG in the Boardroom’ report presents data collected from a survey conducted among in-house governance professionals such as general counsel and corporate secretaries. It provides important insights into, among other things, which part of the board is taking responsibility for ESG oversight, when ESG discussions are taking place and investors’ interest in board oversight of ESG matters. Findings in this report are based on data from an online survey conducted between December 2021 and February 2022.

By downloading this report, you will learn:

• Which elements of boards have oversight of ESG matters
• How often committees report to main boards on ESG issues
• What ESG issues boards have been discussing
• How governance professionals rate their boards’ competence on ESG oversight.

Sponsored by AIG

This special report celebrates the winners of the 14th Corporate Governance Awards. Corporate Secretary speaks to the honorees and looks inside their cutting-edge governance work to show why they won.

The report features best practices in a range of GRC fields and insight designed to help professionals find their own solutions and enhance their own governance programs.

GRC professionals continue to be adept in finding new ways to maintain standards and overcome challenges. Over the past year or so their achievements have included negotiating a historic proxy season, giving thought to vital issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and finding ways to report around a range of ESG topics.

By downloading this report, you will learn about:

• Successfully hosting a virtual AGM while supporting shareholder access
• How companies are using proxy statement content and design to meet investor needs
• Innovative approaches to reporting ESG-related information
• Managing effective compliance and ethics programs
• Making the most of shareholder engagement.

Sponsored by Govenda

Corporate Secretary’s Board Diversity report presents data collected from a survey conducted among in-house governance professionals – such as general counsel and corporate secretaries – to give important insights into what types of board diversity information companies are reporting, whether they believe board diversity brings benefits and whether they are trying to enhance diversity on their board. Findings in this report are based on data from an online survey conducted between March and June 2021.

By downloading this report, you will learn about issues such as:

• Whether companies disclose various details of their board’s composition
• Where and how companies make those disclosures
• Whether investors are asking about board diversity
• How companies are seeking to enhance board diversity.

Sponsored by ESG Playbook

The ESG Shareholder Engagement report from Corporate Secretary and IR Magazine presents data from a survey conducted among investors, in-house governance professionals – such as general counsel and corporate secretaries – and investor relations (IR) professionals. The online survey was conducted between July and September 2021.

By downloading this report, you will learn:

• Which ESG topics investors and companies address in engagement and board meetings
• How investors, governance professionals and IR professionals rate each other’s knowledge of ESG issues
• Which teams from companies are most involved in engagement with shareholders
• Which ESG reporting frameworks are most commonly asked for/reported to.

This special report sponsored by Diligent Institute features four articles on how boards are being tied to social issues oversight, including:

• 2021 trends from the Diligent Institute, with statistics and analysis on director skillsets, gender parity on boards and more
• Tejal Patel, corporate governance director with the SOC Investment Group, explains how the group came to file groundbreaking racial equity audit proposals this year and how governance plays a role in tackling issues of diversity and inclusion
• Eli Kasargod-Staub, executive director and co-founder of Majority Action, tells Ben Maiden that more directors are going to face votes over board actions in response to social issues and related shareholder proposals
• Ben Colton, global co-head of asset stewardship at State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), discusses the importance of the board’s role in overseeing topics such as diversity

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This special report sponsored by Diligent Institute features four articles on the latest ESG issues, covering:

• key findings from analysis of environmental resolutions put forward at 5,062 companies in the US, Canada, the UK, France and Australia, along with their levels of shareholder support, from January 1, 2016 to August 31, 2021
• interview with Rev Kirsten Snow Spalding, senior program director at the Ceres Investor Network, on how the 2021 proxy season may impact next year's season and how governance issues are tied to sustainability performance
• Michael Hugman from The Children's Investment Fund shares his insights on the future of shareholder advocacy in North America, say-on-climate advisory votes, and more
• Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, discusses the non-profit's latest thinking on climate risk and emissions targets

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Corporate Secretary’s Compliance Training report presents data collected from a survey conducted among in-house governance professionals – such as general counsel and corporate secretaries – to give important insights into what companies are training their employees about, the tools they are using to do so, whether compliance training is linked to pay and whether and how companies are assessing their own efforts. Findings in this report are based on data from an online survey conducted between May and June 2021.

By downloading this report, you will learn, among other things:

• Which topics companies’ employee compliance training programs cover
• Whether employee compliance training programs include board members
• Which methods companies use to implement their employee compliance training programs
• Whether companies link ethics and/or employee compliance training to compensation.

Sponsored by Computershare

Corporate Secretary’s Entity Management report presents data based on a survey conducted among in-house entity management professionals – such as general counsel and corporate secretaries – to give important insights into this key function and how teams are adapting to changing conditions.

Findings in this report are based on data from the Corporate Secretary survey conducted between March and May 2021.

By downloading this report, you will learn:

• How budgets for entity management have changed
• How the resources for entity management teams have changed
• The priorities in terms of entity management
• What changes to entity management work there have been as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic