Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund is pushing back on companies offering some of the most extravagant pay packages to executives.
(Bloomberg) — Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund is pushing back on companies offering some of the most extravagant pay packages to executives.
“We think in particular in the US the corporate greed has just gone too far,” Norges Bank Investment Management Chief Executive Officer Nicolai Tangen said in an interview on Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Asked whether companies are receptive to that message, Tangen said “very much so” and that “companies really listen.”
@lisaabramowicz1 in Davos https://t.co/lWJloYa1eg pic.twitter.com/Twqnoj9zQc
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) January 18, 2023
The move is part of a message to tell boards “to sharpen up” on environmental, social and governance issues, Tangen indicated. The fund is using its voting power to push for change, including last year voting against compensation plans at Apple Inc. in an advisory ballot.
“We had some against-votes last year, following which the companies want to have a deeper conversation with us and we are seeing some effects in terms of packages this year,” Tangen said, without identifying any of the companies.
In a three-year strategy plan published in December, the fund said it would push for mandatory corporate sustainability reporting, and sharpen its expectations on climate change and human rights. It will also use voting as a tool to more actively promote its views and hold boards accountable.
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