And CEO of Dick's Sporting Goods and Chairman of today's meeting. Representatives from Deloitte and Touche, our independent auditor, are here today and will be glad to respond to questions during the discussion period. The company's Board of Directors and a number of our executives are also here today. John Hayes, to my left, is the company's General Counsel and will act as Secretary of the meeting. Upon entering the meeting, each of you were presented an agenda for the meeting.
On the reverse side of the agenda is a list of rules of conduct for the annual meeting. To conduct an orderly meeting, we ask that participants abide by these rules. John, can you confirm that notice of this meeting was duly and properly given and a quorum is present?
Yes. The notices of the meeting were mailed on May 1, 2015 in accordance with our bylaws. Also, the company's stock records as of April 15 have been available for at least the past 10 days and they are available for inspection at this meeting. I can also report that a quorum is present today. Record holders representing in the aggregate, 296,007,700 votes are present at this meeting, either in person or by proxy.
Thank you, John. Since a quorum is present, I declare that the annual meeting of the stockholders of Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. Duly convened. There are 3 matters to be voted on at the annual meeting as described in your proxy statement: the election of Class B Directors the ratification and appointment of Deloitte and Touche as the independent auditors for the current fiscal year and an advisory vote to approve executive compensation. Nate Gilch, Director of Investor Relations has been appointed as the Inspector of the election for this meeting.
He will determine the validity of the proxies and the voting results, which will be calculated during the meeting. Nate, please present the Board of Directors' recommendations to the stockholders, after which we will field any questions regarding these proposals.
The first matter is the election of 3 Class B directors, each for a term that expires in 2022. The Board's nominees are Mark Barreneche, Manny Chirico and Al Weisz. I move that these nominees be elected to the Board of Directors.
Is there a second?
2nd.
In accordance with the company's bylaws, advanced notice must be given of any stockholder nomination. Since no notice has been given, the nominations are closed. The next matter is the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte and Touche as the company's independent registered accounting firm for fiscal 2019.
I move that the appointment of Deloitte and Touche should be ratified. Is there a second? 2nd.
Mr. Chairman, my name is Ken Tom Wolf and I represent Carpenter doing the pension fund that will share the Dick's Sporting Goods.
Sir, if you'll hold your comments until after the motions are on the floor, we'll have time to comment on the resolutions.
It's been moved and seconded that the appointment of Deloitte and Touche as
the company's independent public accountants for the 2019 fiscal year be ratified. Nate, please identify the 3rd proposal. The final matter is the advisory vote on executive compensation. I move that the compensation of the named executive officers as described in the proxy statement be approved. Is there a second?
2nd.
It's been moved and seconded that the advisory vote on executive compensation be approved. Are there any questions regarding these proposals?
Again, my name is Ken Humble. I'm with the Parkland Museum's pension Fund that we hold shares of Dick's Sporting Goods. The Carpenters Pension Fund collectively have assets of $60,000,000,000 around $187,000 shares of the company's common stock. Mr. Chairman, McArthur's Pension Fund believes that the audit firm's independence is critical to protecting the integrity of corporate financial reporting.
Audit firm and corporate client relationships have been a long tenured such as here with Deloitte serving as the firm's independent audit firm since 1998. Given the federal regulations require that lead engagement partners be rotated out of that position every 5 years, could the Chair of the Audit Committee, Mr. Burke, or a representative of Deloitte describe the lead auditor partner rotation process and indicate who makes the decision in the selection of the new lead partner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you. Representative from Deloitte and Touche would like to answer the question? Thank you. Since there are no further questions, the polls will open and voting shall commence. Any stockholder who wants a ballot should raise his or her hand.
If you have a legal proxy, you'll be given a ballot. It's not necessary to ask for a ballot if you've already sent in your proxy. If you have previously sent a proxy, please do not execute a separate ballot unless you desire to revoke your proxy. I'll ask all stockholders who have not already done so to please turn in their ballots or proxy cards to John Hayes. It appears that all stockholders wishing to vote by ballot have done so.
The polls are now closed. The Inspector of Election will tally all the votes and return the results to the secretary. John, will you please give us the results?
Yes. The requisite number of shares present have voted in favor of the Board's recommendation for all three matters presented. The vote tallies for each item will be contained in the written report of the Inspector of Election and will be reported in a public announcement.
The 3 nominees have been duly elected as Class B Directors of the company, each for a term that expires in 2022. Deloitte and Touche's selection has been ratified and the compensation of the named executives has been approved. The formal business of the meeting is now adjourned. We'll now give our stockholders the opportunity to ask questions or to make comments. Please state your name and confirm that you're a stockholder or a stockholder representative before raising a question or making a comment.
Chairman, conference has received growing interest in the business press and the leading business schools with the growth in the size of the ownership interest held by mutual funds, particularly passive index funds, BlackRock, Vanguard, Dimensional Fund Management, along with others, each owned in excess of 5% of the company's outstanding shares with a combined ownership position of 32%. We speak to your view of the growing concentration of institutional investors, ownership in public companies and its impact on corporate governance in the markets. Specifically, of ownership by passive investors aggravate short termism in the market or alternately enable companies to take a longer term strategic perspective? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thanks for the
question. I think
it's important
that each company have a group of independent directors who exercise the best interest of the shareholders, and I think at Dick's Sporting Goods, we have that. Appreciate your question. Any additional questions? It appears we have no additional questions. Thank you for your attendance today and your continued support of Dick's Sporting Goods.
Thank you.