Best shareholder engagement (small to mid-cap) Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has advanced its shareholder engagement in recent years by pursuing meaningful interactions on a variety of fronts. One area of focus has been ESG. ‘Around the world, many of HPE’s shareholders have been seeking more meaningful engagement and disclosures regarding ESG matters, and HPE has listened and taken appropriate responsive action,’ the company writes.
For example, CEO Antonio Neri and chief sustainability officer Brian Tippens in July 2021 took part in a webcast with Morgan Stanley to discuss HPE’s ESG initiatives and framework. The discussion highlighted areas such as linking its core strategies to sustainability, the board’s governance over ESG strategy and the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I).
HPE’s shareholder engagement activities for FY 2022 focused heavily on ESG topics such as sustainability, energy efficiency, DE&I, employee relations & human capital management and gender pay equity. The company starts its year-round shareholder outreach program in the fall with the annual securities analyst meeting. This is followed by a board outreach program that takes place over the winter and consists of focused, one-on-one meetings between shareholders and HPE directors.
‘I’ve seen this year that shareholders appreciate our directors being available in the meetings,’ says Ki Hoon Kim, associate general counsel for corporate, securities and global equity administration at HPE. He adds that investors find it helpful that they can start meetings ‘on square three or four’ because his team sends them a great deal of key information ahead of time. The team also ensures directors don’t need to defer to management on topics such as risk oversight and strategy.
Of course, a key element to shareholder engagement is a company’s AGM, and HPE is also this year’s winner of the best AGM award. Another key facet of engaging with investors is the proxy statement and HPE’s prowess in using technology to aid governance came into play with the launch of an interactive virtual proxy statement. This features expanded ESG disclosures, including details of beefed-up board oversight of such ESG risks as DE&I, talent retention, climate change and human rights.
