This post is the second part of D.F. King’s 2026 Proxy Season debriefing report. See here the first part on Shareholder Proposals.

This year, the ‘anti-ESG’ movement remained a fixture in the shareholder proposal space, remaining in the upper half of our ‘top proposals’ lists. However, the number of proposals decreased meaningfully and average support levels for these proposals remain in the single digits.

‘Anti-ESG’ proposals in 2026 included the following topics:

• Report on risks of using ESG & DEI metrics in executive compensation.
• Adopt a policy to remove DEI-correlated characteristics from board.
• Report on ROI of Company’s Diversity & Inclusion Efforts.
• Report on business decisions concerning transgender issues.
• Report on ROI of company’s sustainability initiatives.
• Cost-benefit analysis of the company’s GHG emissions reduction program.
• Reporting on the risks related to distributing abortionrelated drugs.
• Gender-affirming or abortion-related healthcare access.
• Religious and political discrimination.

Political Contributions & Lobbying

Despite there being fewer proposal submissions for this category in 2026, political contributions and lobbying related shareholder proposals received the highest levels of support amongst any of the proposals found under the ‘Social’ umbrella.

Though none passed, these were the only types of ‘Social’ proposals that received higher than 30% shareholder support for those that went to a vote, indicating continued investor interest in transparency around these issues in the absence of regulatory disclosure requirements.

Political contributions related proposals typically request reporting on political contributions, identities of recipients, policies and procedures for the expenditures as well as the individuals involved. Lobbying related proposals often request reporting on company policies governing lobbying activities, as well as the decision making process and procedures in place.

Immigration Policy Proposals

• Four proposals requested a report on the impact of U.S. immigration policy on company operations. Three of these went to a vote, and support levels were in the single digits for all of them.
• One proposal requested reporting on risks associated with its use of the H-1B visa program; this was submitted by a proponent known for its work in the ‘anti-ESG’ space, and received 0.2% shareholder support.
• Several proposals related to data privacy concerns this year incorporated language in supporting statements regarding reputational concerns tied to sharing data with immigration authorities.
• Notably, all proposals related to this category received single digit support.

Artificial Intelligence & Data Centers

This proxy season, at least 14 proposals related to the risk oversight of AI and related topics included requests such as:

GHG Emissions

Although GHG emissions-related proposals halved this year to just 21 proposals, average support increased by approximately 50% to 19.68%. GHG emissions-related proposals remain the most common type of environmental proposal filed, and have historically received amongst the highest levels of support across all environmental proposals.

Independent Chair

Proposals requesting the separation of the roles of chair and CEO surged in submissions this year to a total of 99 proposals, increasing to 99 proposal submission from the 31 we saw during the 2025 proxy season. Seventy-nine of these proposals went to a vote, and average support levels ultimately decreased to 24.45%, from the average of31.30% we saw last year.

Written Consent

Fifty-one companies received a proposal requesting the right for shareholders to act by written consent, a marked increase from the mere 12 proposal submissions we saw during the 2025 proxy season. Seventy-five percent of the written consent proposals submitted this year ended up on ballots, with average support coming in at 35.93%, higher than last year’s 26.32%.

Multi-Class Share Structures

Two proposal categories relating to multi-class share structures cemented the overall umbrella category as a key fixture of the proxy season, both calling for greater transparency and equity around multi-class voting structures.

• Eight proposals requested the disclosure of voting results by share class. Seven of these went to a vote, and received an average of 17.33% support.
• Eight proposals also requested equal voting rights per share. Seven of these went to a vote, and received an average of 29.44% support.

Shareholder Approval of Severance Policies

Just as we saw in 2025, the most common compensationrelated shareholder proposal topic this year was related to severance pay – these proposals requested companies submit severance pay to shareholder approval in situations where severance exceeds 2.99x the sum of an executive’s base salary plus target bonus. Average support hovered around 26.88%, an increase from last year’s average of 22.10%. This proposal was also the only type of compensation-related proposal to pass in 2026, with one reaching 57.6% support.

The complete report, including its Appendix, is available here.

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