Finance and economics | Stakeholders at the gate
财经版块｜门口的利益相关者
注释：
Stakeholder:
A stakeholder is a party that has an interest in a company and can either affect or be affected by the business. The primary stakeholders in a typical corporation are its investors, employees, customers, and suppliers.
此处化用Barbarian at the gate 门口的野蛮人
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/24536564
Activist investing is no longer the preserve of hedge-fund sharks
维权投资不再是对冲基金大鳄们的专利
注释：
1. Activist investing is the practice of buying a large amount of a company's stock with the goal of gaining influence and pressuring the leadership team to make a specific set of changes to the enterprise.  
2. Activist investors：维权投资者（也有译为“激进投资者”）通常是指一些对冲基金、机构的投资者，为了捍卫自身权益，要求公司作出改变甚至插手企业决策，如提高派息、回购股票、削减成本、调整管理层，有时甚至是分拆重组公司。 
拓展阅读：
维权投资者/ Activist investors
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/405079613
ExxonMobil and Starbucks are victims of the latest trend
埃克森美孚和星巴克为当下潮流所累
Trade unions rarely look to corporate raiders for inspiration. Yet the Strategic Organising Centre (soc), a coalition of North American workers groups, is mounting the sort of campaign normally associated with hedge funds. The group’s target is Starbucks, a coffee-shop chain with a market capitalisation of $107bn. Whereas traditional activist investors take a chunk of a company and pressure its management to change strategy, hoping to gain from a bump in the share price, the soc owns a mere $16,000-worth of Starbucks shares, and ultimately wants to improve the lot of the firm’s workers.
工会联盟很少指望从企业狙击手那里获取灵感。然而，北美工人团体联盟—— 战略研究中心【The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC)】 正在发起一场通常对冲基金才会发起的运动。其目标是市值1070亿美元的咖啡连锁店星巴克。传统的维权投资者会买下公司大量股份，然后向管理层施压，要求改变战略，继而从股价上涨中获利。而SOC仅拥有价值1.6万美元的星巴克股份，且最终目的是改善公司员工待遇。
注释：
1. corporate raider企业掠夺者，企业狙击手 A corporate raider is an investor who buys a large number of shares in a corporation whose assets appear to be undervalued. The large share purchase would give the corporate raider significant voting rights, which could then be used to push changes in the company's leadership and management. This would increase share value and thus generate a massive return for the raider.
2.The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) is a democratic coalition of three labor unions: Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Communications Workers of America (CWA) and United Farmworkers of America (UFW). Together, SOC-affiliated unions represent more than 2.3 million workers.  
Its pitch is that the interests of shareholders and workers are, in fact, aligned. Starbucks is wasting money and alienating customers with its approach to “human-capital management”, the group argues. Productivity would be higher, and spending on consultants lower, should Starbucks follow its workplace advice. Therefore it wants three of its candidates appointed to Starbucks’s 11-person board. The hot-drinks behemoth is less convinced. The board is already stocked with “world-class business leaders”, says a representative, who adds that in the last fiscal year a fifth of profits went towards wage increases, training and new equipment.
其主张在于，股东与工人们的利益实际上是一致的。SOC认为，星巴克的“人力资本管理”无疑是在浪费资金、疏远顾客。如果星巴克采纳工人建议，那么生产力将会提高，顾问方面的花费会更低。因此，希望自己的三名候选人可以加入星巴克11人董事会。热饮巨头星巴克对此不大相信。一位代表声称，董事会已坐满“世界级商业领袖”，且在上个财政年度，五分之一的利润用于提高薪水、培训以及安装新设备。
拓展阅读：
星巴克是如何进行公司治理的
https://www.360doc.cn/article/27972427_694238375.html
Five years after the Business Roundtable, a 200-strong group of chief executives at some of America’s biggest companies, embraced stakeholder capitalism, the mood is now rather different. Most bosses would prefer to leave politics to the politicians and avoid the boycotts and bad publicity that come with wading into culture wars. They are content to focus on shareholder returns, rather than trying to improve society at large. But although chief executives have mostly abandoned their flirtation with stakeholder capitalism, they are still living with its consequences.
五年前，由200名美国最大公司的首席执行官组成的商业圆桌会议宣布支持利益相关者资本主义，如今的气氛已大不相同。多数老板更愿意将政治留给政客，避免因卷入文化战争带来的抵制和负面宣传。他们更愿专注于股东回报，而不再试图改善整个社会。不过，尽管已经浅尝辄止，但大多首席执行官们至今仍需应对利益相关者资本主义的后续影响。
注释：
Business Roundtable 商业圆桌会议，是美国非常有影响力的商界组织，由近200位美国大公司的首席执行官组成。拓展阅读：美国商业圆桌会议：告别了，股东价值最大化 https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1652589978642478533
This year’s proxy season, which gets under way in the spring, will probably surpass even 2023’s for proposals of non-binding resolutions. That year marked a record for environmental, social and governance (esg) motions. At the large and small American companies that comprise the Russell 3000 index, 513 of the 836 proposals put to shareholders focused on such questions, according to the Conference Board, a think-tank. The increase reflected a legal shift. In 2021 the Securities and Exchange Commission (sec), a regulator, said that it would no longer allow companies to exclude measures as irrelevant if they focused on a “significant social policy”.
今年的代理投票季，于春季开始，期间，非约束决议提案的数量甚至可能超过2023年。2023年ESG提案数量创下最高记录。智库世界大型企业联合会（Conference Board）的数据显示，在构成罗素3000指数的大大小小的美国公司中，提交给股东的836项提案中有513项聚焦于此类问题。这一增长反映了法律上的转变——2021年，美国监管机构证券交易委员会（简称“SEC”）表示，提案如果涉及“重大社会政策”，则公司不得视其为不相关，而不予讨论。
注释：
1. proxy season: a period each spring in which most publicly traded companies host annual shareholder meetings代理投票季：指公司股东大会召开前的几个月，此时公司股东可以通过代理投票表决来决定公司的重要事项
Source: https://www.investopedia.com/proxy-season-7370612
2. non-binding resolutions：a statement or decision by a legislative body that expresses a position or opinion but lacks legal force. It's a way for lawmakers to take 3. a stand without enacting a law.非约束性决议
Source：https://www.historicalindex.org/what-is-a-non-binding-resolution.htm
ESG：environmental, social and governance环境、社会和治理
Conservatives are also mobilising. Last year’s proxy season included 92 anti-esg proposals, up from 54 the year before. On February 28th at the annual meeting of Apple, a tech giant, shareholders were asked to consider five such proposals, including one asking the firm to report on the risks of failing to consider “viewpoints” in its equal-opportunities policies. The supporting statement says there is evidence that conservatives may be discriminated against in Silicon Valley. Another two, submitted by conservative pressure groups, asked the company to report on how it arbitrates between government and consumer interests, in particular in its dealings with China. For their part, liberals offered only one resolution: asking Apple to change how it reports on racial pay gaps. The company recommended that shareholders reject every one, which they did.
保守派也在采取行动。去年代理投票季出现了92项反对ESG的提案，而前年只有54项。2月28日，在科技巨头苹果公司的年度股东大会上，股东被要求考虑五项此类提案，其中一项要求苹果公司报告其平等机会政策中，未考虑多种观点造成的风险。支持性的观点认为，有证据表明，保守派可能在硅谷受到歧视。另外两份由保守派施压团体提出，要求公司报告如何调解政府和消费者利益之间的分歧，特别是在与中国的交易中。自由派只提出了一个提案：要求苹果改变报告种族薪酬差距的方式。公司建议股东们拒绝所有提案，他们也照做了。
注释：
“viewpoints” in its equal-opportunities policies来源股东大会中的EEO（Equal Employment Opportunities）报告，其中提到：“the National Center for Public Policy Research asked Apple to provide a report on the potential hazards related to the exclusion of "viewpoint" and "ideology" from its EEO”
美国国家公共政策研究中心(National Center for Public Policy Research)要求苹果提供一份报告，说明将“观点”和“意识形态”排除在平等就业机会之外的潜在危害。
Source：Everything went Apple's way at the annual shareholders meeting
https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/02/28/shareholders-voted-the-way-apple-wanted-at-the-annual-shareholder-meeting
Politics by other means
广开门路谋其政
Will other campaigns find more success? In 2023 the average environmental proposal received the support of just a fifth of shareholders, down from a third the year before. Shareholders are being more disciplined, says Lindsey Stewart of Morningstar, a research outfit, only backing climate-change resolutions that are focused on the emissions over which companies have direct control or that they will have to disclose to satisfy regulators, rather than those in their supply chains. Financiers have realised that it is not their job to set energy or industrial policy, he explains. Meanwhile, anti-esg proposals fare even worse: on average they receive the support of only 5% of shareholders.
还有其他更奏效的方法吗？2023年，环保提案平均只得到五分之一的股东支持，低于前一年的三分之一。研究机构晨星公司的林赛·斯图尔特(Lindsey Stewart)表示，股东愈发“守规矩”，他们只支持专注于企业可以直接控制的排放，或是企业为满足监管机构要求而必须披露的气候变化决议，而不会支持涉及供应链排放的决议。他解释说，金融家已经意识到，制定能源或产业政策不是他们的职责。与此同时，反对ESG的提案情况更糟：平均只获得了5%的股东支持。
注释：
碳排放范围
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1782146627833133271&wfr=spider&for=pc
Although such campaigns are rarely successful, they do matter. ExxonMobil, an oil supermajor, is taking the unusual step of suing its own shareholders who have put forward green proposals. Arjuna Capital, a hedge fund, and Follow This, a campaign group, used a stake of less than $4,000 to advance a non-binding proposal to accelerate greenhouse-gas reductions with targets and timelines. The proposal has been withdrawn, but Exxon is still pursuing the case. It says the underlying issue with the sec’s approach is still unresolved: clarity is needed about proxy-voting rules that “are increasingly being infringed by activists masquerading as shareholders”. Many companies quietly agree.
尽管这样的运动鲜少成功，但的确很重要。石油巨头埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil）正采取非常规措施——起诉提出环保提案的股东。对冲基金Arjuna Capital和维权团体Follow This用不到4000美元的股份提出了一项非约束性提案。该提案通过设定目标和时间表来加速温室气体减排。该提案已被撤回，但埃克森美孚仍在继续诉讼。埃克森美孚表示，美国证券交易委员会做法有个潜在问题，那就是需要明确代理投票规则。“越来越多的维权人士伪装成股东钻这些规则的空子”。许多公司在私下对此表示赞同。
延申阅读：
《开年大战！埃克森美孚起诉投资者》
https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20240123A09UKU00
And as the Starbucks case suggests, crusades are becoming increasingly ambitious. More shareholder-activist campaigns began in 2023 than ever before, according to Lazard, an investment bank. Smaller groups, including the soc, have been helped by rules known as “universal proxy”, which were introduced in 2022 by the sec and mean that both a company’s and its dissident shareholders’ nominees to the board of directors must be on the same ballot. Instead of shareholders choosing one slate or the other, they can now mix and match with outsiders and insiders. The soc has spent about $3m on its fight. The result will indicate whether unions can enlist Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, which advise institutional investors, to their cause.
正如星巴克事件所显示的，讨伐行动越来越雄心勃勃。拉扎徳投资银行(Lazard)数据显示，2023年开始的股东维权运动比以往任何时候都多，诸如SOC这样的小团体也因“通用代理权”规则而受益。该规则于2022年由美国证券交易委员会引入，意味着公司及持不同意见的股东提名的董事会成员必须出现在同一张选票上。股东们现在无需在两个候选人名单中选择一个，而是可以把外部和内部候选人混在一张选票上。SOC已经在这项斗争中投入约300万美元。结果将表明，工会能否争取到为机构投资者提供咨询服务的ISS和Glass Lewis的支持。
注释：
1.ISS:美国机构股东服务公司（Institutional Shareholder ServicesInc.，简称ISS）是一家主要服务于机构投资者的独立第三方投票代理机构，利用先进的电子信息平台为客户提供上市公司治理状况的分析和代理投票建议，并可代客户实施投票和信息披露全部流程，从而帮助机构投资者更好地进行投票决策，履行其对投资人的受托义务。
2. Glass Lewis：Glass Lewis is a leading provider of global governance solutions, helping institutional investors and public companies with stewardship needs.
Other small shareholders are pursuing similar strategies. In Europe Bluebell Capital, a tiny hedge fund, has begun a battle with bp, another oil supermajor. The fund argues that bp should quit the offshore-wind business, which it says is destroying value for shareholders. It would prefer bp to increase oil and gas production, as well as to return money to shareholders, who could then invest in better green options, says Giuseppe Bivona, a partner at Bluebell, defending the fund’s environmental credentials. “Contrary to probable superficial appearances, we believe bp is pursuing an ‘anti-woke’ strategy,” the fund’s letter to shareholders argues.
其他小股东也在采取类似策略。欧洲小型对冲基金Bluebell Capital已经开始了与石油超
级巨头英国石油公司的斗争。Bluebell认为，英国石油公司应该放弃海上风电业务，因为该业务损害了股东价值。Bluebell的联合创始人朱塞佩·比沃纳（Giuseppe Bivona）为该基金的环保理念辩护道，我们更希望英国石油公司能增加石油和天然气产量，并将收益返还给股东，从而股东可以投资更好的绿色能源。“与表面现象可能恰恰相反，我们认为英国石油公司正在推行一项‘反觉醒’战略”，Bluebell基金致股东信中如是说。
Dissident investors do not need to win board seats to achieve some sort of victory. After presenting its latest set of results to shareholders, bp increased the pace of buybacks to placate investors who are cool on its green-energy strategy. Meanwhile, the soc hopes that Starbucks’ defence against its campaign might include concessions. Traditional activist investors urge companies to break up, divest assets or return cash to shareholders. Even without campaigns being launched, boardrooms have come to do these things so as to avoid attracting the attention of corporate raiders in the first place. A new generation of corporate raiders, taking advantage of cuddly capitalism, will hope their campaigns have a similar impact.
持异议的投资者并不需要赢得董事会席位来获得某种形式的成功。在向股东发布最新业绩后，英国石油公司加快了股票回购，以安抚对绿色能源战略不感冒的投资者。同时SOC希望星巴克对股东维权运动做出让步。传统的维权投资者敦促公司分拆、剥离资产或向股东返现。即使没有发起运动，董事会也会采取相关措施，从而避免引起企业掠夺者的注意。新一代的掠夺者利用温情资本主义，希望他们的运动能产生类似的影响。
注释：
corporate raiders：Corporate Raider，“蓄意收购公司者”，指试图通过大量购买公司股份来控制公司的个人或组织。多指敌意性的接管行为(hostile takeover)，也称“公司掠夺者”
"cuddly capitalism"是一个用来描述企业在经营中注重社会责任、可持续发展和其他社会价值的趋势的术语。这种趋势意味着企业不仅仅追求利润最大化，还考虑到对员工、社会和环境的影响，并采取相应的措施来促进社会福祉和可持续发展。