Item 12.04: Elect Bengt Kjell as a board member
Rationale:
Folketrygdfondet expects board members to have sufficient time available to devote to their appointments as directors. While extraordinary circumstances can arise that limit a board member’s participation in a single year, we note that Kjell attended less than 75% of all board meetings for the previous year as well. The company has not provided a rationale for his attendance record. For these reasons, Folketrygdfondet has voted against item 12.04.
Item 12.09: Elect CEO Helena Stjernholm as a board member
Rationale:
Folketrygdfondet opposes the election of the CEO to the Board of Directors as a matter of principle. One of the board’s main tasks is the supervision of company management, which includes appointment and dismissal of the CEO. Folketrygdfondet considers that board members can only supervise company management adequately if they are not recruited from among management. For this reason, we voted against item 12.09.
Item 16.00: Remuneration Policy
Rationale:
Folketrygdfondet’s decision to vote against the executive Remuneration Policy is based on a cumulative assessment taking into consideration that the policy provides insufficient disclosure to assess how the executive remuneration policy aligns with shareholder interests. We note that there is no benchmark used for pay-setting, no annual bonus deferral and poor disclosure of STI metrics.