Governance reform at BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR (BP.US) sparks shareholder disagreement: pension giants oppose, new chairman gains sovereign wealth fund support.

Notice that Albert Maniford, the newly appointed chairman of BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR (BP.US), will receive support from at least three top shareholders of the company this week. At this critical moment for the energy giant, his election is facing opposition. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, with assets of 2.2 trillion US dollars, has indicated that it will support Maniford and a series of management-supported proposals at the annual general meeting (AGM) on Thursday. According to sources familiar with the matter, two other major shareholders will also vote in favor of Maniford. Earlier, the 8th largest shareholder, Legal & General (L&G), stated that it would vote against Maniford, while proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. also recommended investors to follow suit. Previously, the board had refused to allow a vote on a shareholder resolution, raising concerns about transparency and corporate governance. This shareholder meeting will be the first joint appearance for Maniford and CEO Meg O'Neil. O'Neil was appointed by Maniford at the end of last year after the dismissal of Murray Auchincloss; at the time, Maniford stated that the company was moving too slowly following years of failed low-carbon transition bets. Maniford, a former executive in the building materials industry, took over the board in October and warned of tough decisions in response to demands for change from activist investor Elliott Investment Management. L&G stated that it would vote against Maniford due to what it called declining transparency and board accountability (including the exclusion of a shareholder climate proposal submitted by activist group Follow This), while Glass Lewis urged shareholders to oppose Maniford's election for the same exclusion of the proposal. BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR has excluded a significant resolution from Follow This at the annual shareholder meeting to be held on April 23 and has requested that the meeting be held online only, while also seeking to revoke two previous resolutions requiring the company to provide specific climate governance integration reports. According to the latest regulatory filings, L&G and Norway's Government Pension Fund Global (NBIM) are among the 12 largest shareholders of BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR with at least 1% of the shares. Data shows that as of last week, L&G held nearly 1.6% of the shares, while the Norwegian fund held around 2.7% by the end of February. The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), representing assets of over 425 billion, has called on its members to oppose the chairman and support a competitor resolution proposed by the Australian activist organization ACCR, which seeks to strengthen disclosure on upstream capital discipline. The California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System have also voted against Maniford, but as of the end of February, they collectively only held 0.2% of BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR shares. The ownership structure of BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR is highly dispersed, with the top 20 investors holding less than 40% of the shares, making it difficult to predict the voting outcome. A spokesperson for BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR stated, "Following extensive engagement with our largest investors, we are fully focused on building a simpler, stronger, more valuable BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR. This is why we have put forward these proposals, aimed at providing transparent, standardized disclosures to support clear cross-company comparisons." Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended supporting Maniford and opposing the ACCR resolution. However, it urged shareholders to vote against BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR in two other resolutions: one allowing for virtual shareholder meetings only, and the other repealing the binding climate disclosure resolutions passed in 2015 and 2019. Glass Lewis supports BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR on the issue of virtual shareholder meetings and also supports the ACCR proposal. Currently, the BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR shareholder meeting is held offline only. The spokesperson stated, "Board of BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR has determined, after consulting legal advice, that the proposals put forward by Follow This are invalid, and even if passed at the shareholder meeting, would be invalid." The spokesperson said that the company's net-zero target remains unchanged, and disclosure changes aim to eliminate outdated duplicate reports. After a tumultuous year in 2025, BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR stated last week that its core oil trading division had performed exceptionally well in the first quarter, with refining margins improving as energy prices soared. However, the increase in net debt has made O'Neil's task of streamlining the company more complex. Less than a month into her role, she has already begun reshaping the company's structure and leadership team. Joshua Stone, head of European energy stock research at UBS Group AG, wrote in a report to clients last week that O'Neil "took over at a crucial turning point for the company." He noted, "The 'high-running and longer-lasting' price environment is undoubtedly positive for the stock price, but regaining investor confidence will still require effort." In recent years, BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR's stock has performed the worst among the oil giants. So far this year, BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR's stock price has seen the second-highest increase among the top five oil giants (growing by about 30% in US dollars), second only to TotalEnergies. However, in recent years, BP p.l.c. Sponsored ADR's performance has consistently lagged behind.