Conservative Investors Face Uphill Battle in Shareholder Actions Against ESG

News analysis Despite a recent rise in corporate shareholder actions by conservative investors, the campaign to arm-twist corporations on political and social topics is still overwhelmingly the domain of left-wing activists, often with the support of government agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a new study by Consumers’ Research. The report by the nonprofit organization found that 1,063 left-leaning shareholder proposals were put before the SEC under Rule 14a-8 between 2018 and 2022, versus 87 conservative proposals. “That is a rate of just over 12 liberal-aligned proposals to every one conservative-aligned shareholder proposal,” the report states. The SEC’s Rule 14a-8 determines which shareholder proposals can go to a vote....