DGAP-News: SWIPRA: New independent Swiss Proxy Advisor for Institutional Investors
(firmenpresse) - EquityStory AG-News: Dynamics Group AG / Key word(s): AGM/EGM
SWIPRA: New independent Swiss Proxy Advisor for Institutional
Investors
22.03.2013 / 07:00
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Inception SWIPRA - Press Release
New independent Swiss Proxy Advisor for Institutional Investors
Zurich, March 22, 2013 - Today the Swiss foundation Swiss Proxy Advisor
('SWIPRA') announced its inception and the initiation of its operations.
SWIPRA was founded by Swiss pension funds and foundations and is a
non-profit organization with registered offices in Zurich, Switzerland. The
scope of its business is to provide independent proxy advice to
institutional investors on issues concerning general meetings of companies
listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. SWIPRA is independent and assesses
meeting agendas and proposals to shareholders solely with the objective of
long-term shareholder value generation. The strategic collaboration with
the Department of Banking and Finance of the University of Zurich
guarantees an objective as well as economically and empirically well
founded view.
Through the adoption of the federal initiative 'Minder', Swiss-based
pension funds will be required, by the country's constitution, to cast
votes at General Meetings of companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Specifically, they have to vote in the interest of their insured and to
periodically disclose how they voted. In January of this year,
economiesuisse, the Swiss business federation, published the Swiss
Stewardship Code for Institutional Investors, which relates to the
shareholder rights and duties of institutional investors. The code
recommends that all institutional investors shall cast their votes and,
additionally, shall publish their basic principles and processes leading to
their decisions. Such information shall be published on a yearly basis. As
a consequence, institutional investors will face increased responsibility
and disclosure requirements regarding proxies, independently from the
detailed legislation based on the new article of the Swiss constitution.
SWIPRA is an independent non-profit organization with the purpose to act as
proxy advisor for institutional investors. SWIPRA will neither operate as
an asset manager nor as a consultant for listed companies. SWIPRA will, in
connection to General Meetings, assess agenda items as well as proposals to
shareholders solely with the objective of long-term value generation and
provide its recommendations independently from the issuer. This will be
achieved by a combination of the following three elements: first, the
recommendations are based on voting principles, the so-called 'Policy
Considerations', which will be updated and adopted, as required, for each
season of General Meetings. These Policy Considerations define, among
others, the criteria for long-term and sustainable value-based management.
Second, the collaboration with the Department of Banking and Finance
('DBF') allows an economically and empirically well-founded view. Third,
the basis for the individual voting recommendations is a multi-level,
structured process. This process allows for an interaction with the issuer
as well as an individual assessment of the situation whereby the management
of SWIPRA will verify the draft recommendations as proposed by the DBF, in
case of a disputable recommendation contact the issuer and involve the
Board of Trustees.
SWIPRA was recently founded by three donors, the largest independent
joint-foundation in Switzerland, vita Sammelstiftung, the association of
Swiss investment foundations, KGAST, and a large pension fund, the pension
fund of Credit Suisse Group (Switzerland). The Board of Trustees is
composed of Prof. em. Dr. Rudolf Volkart (Chairman), Prof. Dr. Bruno
Gehirg, Prof. em. Dr. Peter Forstmoser and Prof. Dr. Alexander F. Wagner
from the Institute of Banking and Finance of the University of Zurich. The
Board of Trustees appointed the economist and finance specialist Ms.
Barbara A. Heller as Chief Executive Officer of the foundation. More
information on the members of the Board of Trustees and the Chief Executive
Officer can be found on www.swipra.ch .
The Board of Trustees will be responsible for regular updates and a
thorough validity check of the Policy Considerations as well as the
assessment of disputable recommendations. The foundation is emphasizing
independence and transparency and has therefore developed an internal Code
of Conduct regulating, among others, the exclusion of members of the Board
of Trustees from voting on recommendations in case of a potential conflict
of interest, i.e. recommendations in connection with companies where they
have been member of a company's board within the past 5 years ('Cooling Off
Period'). Information related to Cooling Off Periods will be disclosed on
SWIPRA's webpage.
It is SWIPRA's goal to provide recommendations for the Annual General
Meetings of the 50 largest companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SMI
Expanded(R)) by 2014. SWIPRA will not appear publicly at General Meetings
nor will it publish its voting recommendations. Clients will have access to
SWIPRA's recommendations through the electronic platform 'Sherpany'
provided by Agilentia Ltd, Zurich, Switzerland.
Prof. Rudolf Volkart, Chairman of the Board of Trustees says: 'We are
delighted that our founders appointed us with the task to build an
independent and non-profit oriented proxy advisor with a process based on
transparency and economic principles. The Board is convinced that our
foundation can play an important role related to the upcoming voting
requirements for pension funds in Switzerland'.
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About SWIPRA
SWIPRA is a non-profit oriented, independent proxy advisor for
institutional investors with registered offices in Zurich, Switzerland, and
a foundation under Swiss law. SWIPRA develops its voting recommendations in
collaboration with the Department of Banking and Finance of the University
of Zurich and provides them to clients through the electronic platform
'Sherpany'. Further information can be found on www.swipra.ch .
About the Department of Banking and Finance of the University of Zurich
('DBF')
The Department of Banking and Finance (formerly Swiss Banking Institute) is
part of the faculty of economics, business administration and information
technology of the University of Zurich and is recognized as an independent
research institution with great competencies in the area of finance. DBF
conducts internationally recognized theoretical, empirical and applied
research in the areas of banking, corporate finance, financial economics
and quantitative finance.
About Agilentia
Agilentia Ltd was founded by graduates of the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology (ETH) and the University of Zurich. The company with registered
offices in Zurich, Switzerland, specializes in the development of online
platforms that provide and guarantee legally binding online interactions.
Agilentia fulfills the rigorous requirements of listed and major private
companies, with its web-based solutions adhering to high levels of
security, simplicity and efficiency.
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Contact information:
Barbara A. Heller, Chief Executive Officer, SWIPRA
Barbara.heller(at)swipra.ch
Phone: +41 (44) 515 89 68
End of Corporate News
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22.03.2013 This press release was distributed by EQS CORPORATE
COMMUNICATIONS.
www.eqs.com - news archive: www.eqs.com/ch/presskit
The issuer is responsible for the contents of the release.
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