WisdomTree receives shareholder pushback following chair appointment

WisdomTree has appointed a new chair, Win Neuger, after the previous chair was voted out in a campaign from the firm's largest shareholder.

In the firm's annual general meeting last month (16 June), WsidomTree chair Frank Salerno lost his re-election bid to ETFS Capital nominee Tonia Pankopf, following a shareholder campaign to push out longstanding directors.

ETFS Capital, which holds 10.2% of WisdomTree's outstanding common stock, has led the charge on this, having rallied since April for the firm to change strategy and has continuously called for the replacement of Salerno and Neuger.

Despite ETFS Capital failing to unseat Neuger, who was chair of the nominating and governance committee, he still saw over a third of shares vote against him at the AGM.

Neuger, who was selected as chair last week (24 June), was previously CEO of PineBridge Investments.

ETFS Capital issued a scathing statement following Neuger's appointment, stating that the move maintains the board's "tiered structure where only long-tenured and non-diverse directors hold key board and committee roles".

"In appointing Neuger as chair, the board has once again rejected an opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to true board refreshment," it said.

"ETFS Capital calls on its fellow WisdomTree stockholders to voice their views to the board, who despite any assurances they may have made in their recent campaign, have demonstrated once again that they cannot be trusted to do the right thing for stockholders," it concluded.