One perennial issue at annual meetings is cumulative voting of shares, and well-known gadfly Evelyn Davis is trying to assert that shareholder right at BNY Mellon Corp. this year.

"Many corporations have adopted cumulative voting," said Davis by phone from Washington. She owns stock in BNY Mellon and 75 other corporations, and has made 30 proposals for various annual meetings this year.

BNY Mellon's annual meeting will be held Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown.

Cumulative voting allows a shareholder to cast all their votes for a single director candidate, instead of the same number for each candidate. Cumulative voting is popular among shareholders -- particularly dissident ones trying to elect their own slates -- but resisted by managements.

Davis is proposing the change at BNY Mellon for the second year, having garnered 36.1 percent support last year.

"They are still emotionally attached to Pittsburgh, but they want to be more of a national company," said Davis. "They should meet in New York where they are headquartered."

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