WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today announced how it will vote at the May 7, 2013, Timken Company annual shareholder meeting in Canton, Ohio. A detailed vote tally and analysis are available in the Corporate Governance section of the CalSTRS website.
CalSTRS attributes the failure to separate the Timken bearing and steel businesses and excessive executive chairman compensation to the Timken family’s influence on the board. As a long-term owner-investor, CalSTRS believes directors in the boardroom are there to represent shareholders and to serve the shareholders’ interests, not the interests of the Timken family.
As of March 31, 2013, CalSTRS holds 369,311 shares of Timken stock, valued at an estimated $20.9 million. The holdings account for 0.38 percent of outstanding shares.
CalSTRS will vote against all the members of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and against John M. Timken, Jr., at the annual shareholders meeting. Additionally, CalSTRS will present proposal #6 requesting the company separate the bearings and steel businesses.
“It is unfortunate that the board refuses to act on a plan that the market clearly recognizes as the best way to eliminate the conglomerate discount,” said CalSTRS Director of Corporate Governance Anne Sheehan. “We believe shareholders will send a message the board can’t ignore at the annual meeting by voting for our proposal.”
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, with a portfolio valued at $163.7 billion as of March 31, 2013, is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world. CalSTRS administers a hybrid retirement system, consisting of traditional defined benefit, cash balance and voluntary defined contribution plans. CalSTRS also provides disability and survivor benefits. For 100 years, CalSTRS has served California's public school educators and their families, who today number 862,000 from the state’s 1,600 school districts, county offices of education and community college districts.
