Top US public pension fund backs move to cap Buffett's role in Berkshire

America’s largest state pension fund lined up behind the full state of activist shareholder proposals for the pending annual general meeting of  Berkshire Hathaway, including a  call for founder and lead shareholder Warren Buffett (pictured) to stand down as chairman.

The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) said it would support all four proposals submitted by minority shareholders, a market filing indicated. CalPERS said it holds approximately 800 vote-privileged Class A shares and over 5.5 million low-vote Class B shares. That's an underwhelming 0.2% of qualifying votes, albeit from an overwhelmingly well-known name on the market.

At issue is a draft resolution from the National Legal and Policy Center calling on Berkshire Hathaway to separate the role of board chair and CEO and consistently appoint an independent board as chair. Both posts are currently held by founder and lead shareholder Buffett who wields a 32% stake.

CalPERS will also vote in favour of two climate action proposals, including one it co-sponsored, plus a shareholder demand that Berkshire Hathaway begins publishing diversity, equity and inclusion metrics.  CalPERS and others have also indicated they will oppose re-election of select board members on account of climate positioning, market filings have indicated.

Berkshire Hathaway management has previously recommended shareholders shoot down the full set of proposals.

On the question of leadership, Berkshire Hathaway had conceded that the posts could be separated when Buffett eventually steps down. "The Board believes that as long as Mr Buffett is Berkshire’s CEO, he should continue as Board Chair and as Berkshire’s CEO," Berkshire had said in its proxy materials.

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