Glenn Hubbard, the past co-chair of the Study Group on Corporate Boards, was recommended for removal of his BFZ board chairmanship by Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). BFZ is the ticker symbol for BlackRock California Municipal Income Trust.
Glenn Hubbard is Dean Emeritus at Columbia Business School and the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics. Russ Carson co-founded Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe (WCAS) in 1979. WCAS is a private equity underwriter (PEU) focused on technology and healthcare.
The PEU boys have enjoyed preferred "carried interest" taxation for decades, despite promises from Red and Blue Team candidates to eliminate this unfair advantage. Hubbard fits into this history.
Hubbard served as deputy assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury Department from 1991 to 1993.
The greed and leverage boys rose from minor players to policy making billionaires. People who supported PEU efforts to milk Uncle Sam's wallet while reducing taxes were handsomely rewarded.
Hubbard sits or has sat on 149 boards according to SEC filings. In 2005 he joined the KKR Financial Corp board. Most of his board slots are with BlackRock funds.
I doubt Hubbard has any interest in public service. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink may not either. However he does have a Secret Service like private security detail and makes international arrangements. His outsized influence is similar to storied PEU founders.
Politicians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one. Is there a President Fink with Vice President Hubbard in our future? If citizens are analogous to shareholders, what might ISS have to say about that?
Note: ISS is owned by Deutsche Börse Group, along with Genstar Capital and ISS management.
