Former Chancellor of Delaware Court of Chancery - Judge Leo Strine Jr., Keith Johnson (Global Investor Collaboration Services), Jessica Wirth Strine (Jasper Street), and Nick Zuiker (Reinhart's Institutional Investor Services) will share their insights on Contemporary Ownership: Promises and Challenges in November 7th webinar organized by the M&I Center for Business Ethics, Lubar College of Business (Nov 7th: 11-noon EST); registration: https://uwm.edu/business/forms/rsvp-contemporary-ownership-promises-and-challenges-webinar/
#ownership #corporategovernance #governance #shareholderempowerment
During the last four decades, corporate governance regulations sought to enhance corporate accountability by empowering shareholders and aligning the interests of corporate executives to those of corporate shareholders. The number of US publicly traded corporations, however, has shrunk by half since its 1996 peak, while the number of firms backed by private equity increased nearly six-fold, paving the way for recent initiatives to 'democratize access to alternative assets.' While these developments may be unsurprising in the face of a $130T global asset management industry, they raise the question whether investors' interests can be protected if the underlying resilience and well-being of American companies is ignored, and organizational interests are reduced to the dynamically changing interests of their investors.
The distinguished panel will address three key points: (i) pivotal regulatory changes with respect to contemporary ownership, (ii) shareholder empowerment in the context of heterogenous investor interests and concentration of diversified asset managers, (iii) systemic consequences for American companies, investment fund beneficiaries, and stakeholders.
About the Speakers:
Leo E. Strine, Jr., is Of Counsel in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and serves as the Michael L. Wachter Distinguished Fellow in Law and Policy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and a Senior Fellow of the Harvard Program on Corporate Governance. Prior to joining the firm, he was the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from early 2014 through late 2019. Before becoming the Chief Justice, he served on the Delaware Court of Chancery as Chancellor since June 22, 2011, and as a Vice Chancellor since November 9, 1998.
Keith Johnson is CEO of Global Investor Collaboration Services, a consulting firm that provides governance and educational services to institutional investors on a global basis. He previously co-headed the Institutional Investor Legal Services Group at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, where he was selected by national peers to be included in Best Lawyers in America for corporate governance expertise. Prior to Reinhart, he served as Chief Legal Officer for the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and President of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA). Keith also co-edited the Cambridge University Handbook of Institutional Investment and Fiduciary Duty and taught corporate governance as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Jessica Wirth Strine is managing partner and CEO at Jasper Street, which she co-founded in 2020 following nearly twenty years in investment management. Jessica advises clients on shareholder engagement, corporate governance practices, and contentious proxy voting matters including activism. Prior to founding Jasper Street, Jessica served as a senior director on the Investment Stewardship team at Vanguard where she oversaw proxy voting and led engagement with directors and executives at public companies across the U.S. and led the firm's interdisciplinary ESG working group. Prior to Vanguard, Jessica worked in active equity portfolio management at BlackRock where she served as a director of research and an energy sector portfolio manager; at Putnam Investments where she managed natural resources sector funds and directed energy investments across the firm's global, international and U.S. funds; and at Wellington Management Company where she conducted equity research across the consumer and telecommunications sectors. Jessica holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and five children and serves on the board of directors of T1 Energy (NYSE: TE).
Nick Zuiker is a shareholder with Reinhart's Institutional Investor Services (RIIS) Team, where he represents institutional investors all aspects of the legal and economic issues related to institutional investors, including fiduciary responsibilities, plan governance, litigation and tax legal services, including development of investment beliefs and investment policy statements and establishment of policies and programs concerning corporate engagement and exercise of shareholder rights intended to reduce investor risk and increase long-term returns. Nick also represents institutional investors in negotiating favorable terms of investments in private equity funds and other alternative investment vehicles. Nick currently serves on the Markets Advisory Council for the Council of Institutional Investors (CII), as Secretariat for the Global Institutional Governance Network, a forum of approximately 22 global institutional investors that meets periodically to discuss investor concerns and ESG issues, and as a member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA) Investments Committee.
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Maria Goranova
Professor, Organizations and Strategic Management
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee WI
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