Avon Gets "Called" on Board Elections, Options

May 5, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Many shareholder resolutions have fallen short this proxy season, but Avon shareholders snapped that streak last week.

A shareholder resolution sponsored by Walden Asset Management that called for the annual election of directors drew the support of 80.5% of the shareholders, despite the opposition of Avon’s board of directors, according to a news release from Walden, which owns 77,000 Avon shares and sponsored the measure.   Walden is the socially responsible division of United States Trust Company of Boston.

A second resolution requesting that Avon expense options also passed, albeit with a narrower 56% tally.   That resolution was sponsored by The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Pension Fund.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

Avon CEO Andrea Jung responded to the vote stating that there had been a “groundswell” supporting the election of directors, that the Board’s Governance Committee would review this issue with the utmost seriousness, and would report back to shareholders, according to Dow Jones.

«