Pru Shareholders Vote For Annual Board Elections

Prudential Chief Executive Art Ryan said after the vote that the board would consider the proposal.

The practice of electing one-third of a board's directors each year is common at publicly held companies, but the UNITE resolution said eliminating the 3-year director election cycle would increase board accountability. "Increasingly, institutional investors are calling for the end of this system," UNITE said in its resolution.

Opponents of the 3-year director election cycle include the California Public Employees Retirement System and the New York City and New York State pension funds, and several large companies have switched to annual director elections, UNITE said.

Before the vote, the Prudential board said the company and its shareholders decided when the company demutualized in 2001 to elect board members to staggered 3-year terms. The board "finds no compelling reason to change a board structure that was implemented and approved less than 3 years ago," the board said.