Mneesha Nahata, vice president, corporate legal finance at American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT), participated in a video interview at REITwise 2018, Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference in Hollywood, Florida.
Concerning corporate governance, Nahata said she is seeing a move this year from compensation-based issues toward a broader framework encompassing board-related matters, such as board diversity and board refreshment, and also sustainability matters.
Nahata also noted that matters of inclusion and diversity are important to American Tower. “It’s important to our board and our management team just to have a diverse set of viewpoints. We feel that we can be more efficient and gain more traction by looking at the bigger landscape,” she said.
When it comes to dealing with activist investors, Nahata advises that the best course of action for REITs is to engage with them to determine what they want. REITs should also be as proactive as possible and think ahead about such matters.
“It’s essential to think three steps ahead,” Nahata said.