Shareholder activism is firmly in the mainstream as institutional investors in particular become more comfortable asserting themselves during annual general meetings, which is changing the priorities that come up during proxy fights and other activist campaigns. In a five year study of proxy voting at Russell 3000 and S&P 500 companies, researchers Matteo Tonello and Melissa Aguilar of The Conference Board (in collaboration with FactSet) found that there has been a noticeable change in just the last few months, as noted in the September issue of Activist Insight (ValueWalk readers can receive 33% discount on Activism Monthly Premium by using this link…