Aflac lets shareholders weigh in on exec pay

Insurer becomes the first major U.S. company to allow shareholders to receive a non-binding vote on executive compensation.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Aflac said Wednesday its board approved a resolution giving shareholders the right to a non-binding vote on executive pay packages that will take effect in 2009.

"Our shareholders, as owners of the company, have the right to know how executive compensation works," Aflac CEO Dan Amos said in a statement.

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"We believe that providing an opportunity for an advisory vote on our compensation report is a helpful avenue for our shareholders to provide feedback on our pay-for-performance compensation philosophy and pay package," he added.

Aflac's move comes amid a growing outcry among shareholders over executive pay. Home Depot (Charts) faced criticism from shareholders recently after ousted CEO Bob Nardelli received a $210 million severance package.

Columbus, Ga.-based Aflac (Charts), best known for its ad campaign that features a duck, is the first major U.S. company to give shareholders the right to vote on executive compensation.

The vote will not be binding, but it would be difficult for the company to ignore shareholders, according to a report in USA Today.

Similar proposals at other companies have never passed, and other companies are expected to follow suit, Richard Ferlauto, director of pension and benefit policy at AFSCME, told the newspaper.

"The only question is not when or if, but how many," he told USA Today.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union is a major institutional investor.


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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.