With shareholder activism on the rise, the need for boards to proactively engage with shareholders has also increased.

Shareholder engagement refers to the process of engaging shareholders, usually those representing the largest blocks of stock, in face-to-face verbal communications. Topics usually include CEO evaluation and succession, executive compensation, board nomination criteria, governance issues, corporate strategy and emerging issues such as oversight of corporate culture, human capital management and the set of issues known as environmental, social and governance. Institutional investors and proxy advisory firms usually publish their priorities in advance of proxy season, which helps boards scope what topics are appropriate for discussion. READ MORE