DOW CHEMICAL STRUGGLES ON THE INVESTOR CONFIDENCE INDEX
SHAREHOLDERS SIGNAL READINESS FOR CHANGE
THIRD POINT LLC INITIATIVE ATTRACTS SUPPORT
For Immediate Release
Brendan Wood International
TopGun Press
New York
September 9th, 2014
The Dow Chemical Company continues to languish in investor confidence according to the latest report issued today by Brendan Wood International (BWI). The BWI Investor Confidence Index is based on confidential real-time debriefings of institutional investors and influential family-wealth advisors. For the past two years, the Index has consistently placed Dow’s board, management, strategy and transparency near the bottom of the universe of measured companies.
A BWI Investor Confidence Index positioning relies upon eleven confidence criteria. Investors evaluate companies against each performance criterion, such as CEO and price appreciation potential, independently. The integration of these measurements places a company at its appropriate level on the Index.
The most recent results maintain Dow’s long-standing vulnerability as an activist target. In recent years the Index accurately forewarned the success of shareholder activists with another poorly rated company, Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, but their failure with the generally well regarded Agrium Inc.
BWI’s investor debriefings have recently incorporated specific questions to register Dow shareholders’ views and intentions with respect to board and management changes. “Early results uniformly support change, and Third Point is receiving positive reviews for its initiative,” said Jordan Novak, managing director of field operations for BWI. “The antipathy of investors towards management is quite pronounced, their comments often unprintable.”
BWI chairman, Brendan Wood, laments Dow’s missed opportunities. “In the interest of aligning Dow’s board with its shareholders, we repeatedly provided the company with complimentary alerts when it became clear they were vulnerable,” said Wood. “It is of course the board’s prerogative to seek its own counsel. But it’s clear that investors have yet to accredit management’s efforts to remedy the situation. Investors are openly frustrated by the perceived inaction of the board.”
As to a claim by Dow’s president, chairman & CEO, Andrew Liveris, that Warren Buffett is happy to be a shareholder, Wood commented that Mr. Buffett’s uniquely favorable investment terms do not apply to the larger body of deeply disaffected investors “who place the CEO’s performance at the bottom of the index”.
Brendan Wood International, founded in 1970, is an independent intelligence-based advisor to investors, corporations, investment banks and other participants in capital markets worldwide. In addition to its intelligence and advisory roles, BWI is the founder of the TopGun Society which accredits exceptional individual and team performance on the basis of knowledgeable assessments from customers and counterparties in global financial markets. Shareholders wishing to add or update their views may contact BWI for a strictly confidential debriefing.
Contacts:
Jordan Novak
Managing Director
416-924-8110
jnovak@brendanwood.com
Amanda Knott
Senior Panel Manager
416-924-8110
aknott@brendanwood.com
Brendan Wood
Chairman
561-515-6126
bwood@brendanwood.com
www.topgunpress.com
www.brendanwood.com
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