On May 1, 2019, Wayne King sent a letter to the shareholders of Barrett Business Services Inc. urging them to vote for a proposal to include proxy access. The letter highlights an interesting statistic about the adoption of proxy access in large companies.

Here is the extract from the letter:

“Proxy access is now a part of good corporate governance. It allows long-term shareholders with material holdings to nominate directors of their choice, and place them on the company ballot for a full shareholder vote. Since 2014, proxy access has become widely accepted across U.S. companies. It’s now a mainstream feature of S&P 500 companies, nearly so in the Russell 1000, and the momentum behind it is strong.

“99.3% of U.S. companies have adopted proxy access with a threshold of 3% ownership held for a minimum of 3 years, including 78 Russell 2000 companies. I expect this trend to continue.

“The rapid pace of adoptions confirms that shareholders want more say in director nominations. Proxy access gives owners a voice and a choice.”