When ordinary individuals and families invest their hard-earned money in corporate America, they expect that companies will act to maximize their returns. They might be dismayed to learn that policy, priorities, and governance decisions are often instead steered by proxy advisers — opaque consultants that have no fiduciary responsibility to investors and a long record of putting “woke” ideology ahead of profitability.
During his first term, President Donald Trump directed his Securities and Exchange Commission to provide transparency into this obscure industry. In 2020, the SEC adopted regulations that required proxy advisers to notify companies of their recommendations before distributing those to shareholders, granted leeway for companies to reject votes on non-business-related social and ethical matters, mandated that proxy firms disclose conflicts of interest, and allowed these companies to be sued for misleading investors.
