IBM Notice of 2009 Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement

Management has been advised that Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, 84 State Street, Suite 1000, Boston, MA 02109, the beneficial owner of 15,195 shares, together with multiple co-filers whose names, addresses and beneficial holdings are available upon request, intend to submit the following proposal at the meeting:

RESOLVED, that shareholders of IBM request the board of directors to adopt a policy that provides shareholders the opportunity at each annual shareholder meeting to vote on an advisory resolution, proposed by management, to ratify the compensation of the named executive officers (“NEOs”) set forth in the proxy statement’s Summary Compensation Table (the “SCT”) and the accompanying narrative disclosure of material factors provided to understand the SCT (but not the Compensation Discussion and Analysis). The proposal submitted to shareholders should make clear that the vote is non-binding and would not affect any compensation paid or awarded to any NEO.

Supporting Statement

Investors are increasingly concerned about mushrooming executive compensation especially when insufficiently linked to performance. In 2008, shareholders filed close to 100 “Say on Pay” resolutions. Votes on these resolutions have averaged 43% in favor, with ten votes over 50%, demonstrating strong shareholder support for this reform.

An Advisory Vote establishes an annual referendum process for shareholders about senior executive compensation. We believe the results of this vote would provide the board and management useful information about shareholder views on the company’s senior executive compensation.

In its 2008 proxy Aflac submitted an Advisory Vote resulting in a 93% vote in favor, indicating strong investor support for good disclosure and a reasonable compensation package. Daniel Amos, Chairman and CEO said, “An advisory vote on our compensation report is a helpful avenue for our shareholders to provide feedback on our pay-for-performance compensation philosophy and pay package.”

To date eight other companies have also agreed to an Advisory Vote, including Verizon, MBIA, H&R Block, Ingersoll Rand, Blockbuster, and Tech Data. TIAA-CREF, the country’s largest pension fund, has successfully utilized the Advisory Vote twice.

Influential proxy voting service RiskMetrics Group, recommends votes in favor, noting: “RiskMetrics encourages companies to allow shareholders to express their opinions of executive compensation practices by establishing an annual referendum process. An advisory vote on executive compensation is another step forward in enhancing board accountability.”

The Council of Institutional Investors endorsed advisory votes and a bill to allow annual advisory votes passed the House of Representatives by a 2-to-1 margin. We believe the statement like approach for company leaders is to adopt an Advisory Vote voluntarily before required by law.

We believe that existing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules and stock exchange listing standards do not provide shareholders with sufficient mechanisms for providing input to boards on senior executive compensation. In contrast, in the United Kingdom, public companies allow shareholders to cast a vote on the “directors’ remuneration report,” which discloses executive compensation. Such a vote isn’t binding, but gives shareholders a clear voice that could help shape senior executive compensation.

We believe that a company that has a clearly explained compensation philosophy and metrics, reasonably links pay to performance, and communicates effectively to investors would find a management sponsored Advisory Vote a helpful tool.

We urge IBM’s board to allow shareholders to express their opinion about senior executive compensation through an Advisory Vote.

THE IBM BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE AGAINST THIS PROPOSAL.

IBM has long demonstrated its commitment to sound principles of corporate governance, working to ensure that its practices protect and further the interests of its stockholders. As discussed in more detail below, the Board of Directors believes that adopting the proposed advisory vote policy on executive compensation is not warranted, as the Board already has governance and executive compensation practices and policies that demonstrate its accountability to stockholders.

• The Executive Compensation and Management Resources Committee (the “Committee”) is charged with the responsibility for defining and articulating the Company’s overall executive compensation philosophy, and administering and approving all elements of compensation for the Company’s senior executives. In balancing these responsibilities, the Committee is duty-bound to act in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders, which duties are unique to directors and not shared by either the Company’s management or its stockholders.
• The proposed advisory vote simply cannot be a meaningful substitute for the informed judgment of the independent Committee members. When setting executive compensation and designing executive compensation programs, the Committee considers a variety of public and confidential information, such as sensitive strategic and operational information and data unique to the particular individuals, including consideration of the ongoing efforts by competitors and others to recruit IBM executive talent. Because such confidential data is not available and cannot otherwise be disclosed to stockholders, any vote by stockholders would necessarily be based on incomplete information — and therefore it follows that no stockholder can reach an informed judgment on whether a particular type or amount of compensation, or compensation for a specific individual, is appropriate.
• Further, the mechanical and procedural requirements necessary for such an advisory vote to occur are ill-defined at best. Nowhere do the proponents define the scope of their intended vote and whether the vote extends to compensation programs, practices and philosophies or whether it is limited to specific pay amounts for specific individuals. Proponents are in essence asking the Company to try to implement a process without definition, without rigor and without any assurances as to its efficacy — this is blind risk-taking neither the Board nor management can recommend in the exercise of their fiduciary responsibilities. In such a process, the results of any stockholder vote will be ambiguous by definition, because the specific source of any stockholder dissatisfaction cannot be articulated through an “all or nothing” (i.e., “yes” or “no”) vote. Such a vote may reflect stockholder dissatisfaction with the compensation of one or more of the Named Executive Officers, with a certain type or amount of compensation, or with the compensation philosophy in total, or it may simply reflect some generalized dissatisfaction with the Board, with management or with the Company’s performance.
• Moreover, the potential use (or misuse) by certain persons, including proxy advisory groups, of these advisory votes introduces uncertainty and risk into the governance process. If past experience is any guide, we expect that such persons or groups will issue recommendations with respect to those votes, in an attempt to leverage concessions or changes in the Company’s practices, even those practices far removed from executive compensation. For example, after some period of time, significant ‘no’ advisory votes may well be translated into ‘vote no’ campaigns against directors, or translate into negative recommendations on other Board proposals. Given these profound uncertainties and risks, the Board simply has no confidence in how the entire advisory vote process will work.
• The Committee also has a demonstrated history of being responsive to concerns regarding executive pay, taking steps to emphasize performance and incentive pay, with 87% of annual senior executive compensation from sources that vary year to year based on business results. In addition, the Committee and the Board of Directors have taken a number of steps over time to enhance sound governance in its compensation practices and policies, including:
  • – Ending the accrual of benefits under the Supplemental Executive Retention Plan,
  • – Ceasing the payment of dividend equivalents on future Restricted Stock Unit awards,
  • – Implementing non-compete agreements for senior executives in exchange for compensation, and
  • – Adopting a policy to claw-back incentive payments made to any officer whose misconduct leads to a restatement of the Company’s financial results.
• The rigor of the Committee’s processes has also helped insulate the Company from challenges regarding its compensation practices, including backdating claims. As noted in the section “Equity Pay Practices” of this Proxy Statement, all equity awards are approved before or on the date of grant, with the process using a predetermined planning price to set the value of awards to be given, instead of setting awards at a specific number of shares, the value of which can vary based on the grant date and the stock price.
• The Board has otherwise demonstrated its responsiveness to issues of concern to stockholders and its commitment to being accountable to stockholders. In 2008, the Company amended its by-laws to provide for majority election of directors, which ensures that the results of director elections reflect the will of a majority of the votes cast. At the same time, the Company amended its by-laws to allow stockholders holding at least 25% of the outstanding shares to call special meetings of stockholders, which was also in response to a majority vote on an earlier stockholder proposal. In addition, the Board has implemented other stockholder proposals from time to time without the need for stockholder intervention.

The Company has dedicated the majority of this Proxy Statement to furnishing clear and complete disclosure of executive compensation information. In this year’s disclosure, we again used a two-stage approach, leading with a “primer” — Section I of the CD&A — using plain English to make clear for all readers the policies and practices behind the Company’s programs for senior executive compensation. The Board believes that this high degree of transparency helps ensure that stockholders’ interests are properly served with respect to executive compensation.

Finally, the Company already has a number of channels for stockholders to express their views on matters of concern, including through the use of a dedicated web address, through the stockholder proposal process and at the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders. Stockholders have the ultimate ability to influence actions by the Board by exercising their right to vote for the election of directors, including those who sit on the Committee.

For the reasons set forth above, the Board believes that the proposed advisory vote will not enhance director accountability to stockholders. THEREFORE, THE IBM BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE AGAINST THIS PROPOSAL.