Investor activists pin hope on new U.S. president

By Rachelle Younglai and Karey Wutkowski

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many shareholders have been left with a bad taste in their mouths after witnessing executives walk away with millions of dollars even as their companies staggered under the weight of the mortgage crisis.

But investor activists see reasons to believe the next president -- whether a Democrat or a Republican -- will back reforms that would make companies and their boards of directors more accountable.

"Investors are increasingly saying that what we need is straight up accountability," said Damon Silvers, associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO labor federation. "I think we will see a greater focus on corporate governance in the next administration."

Sentiments that lean more toward Main Street than Wall Street have come from the three main candidates vying for the White House: Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and Republican John McCain. Another Republican, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, is viewed as a long-shot candidate.

"The interesting thing is that both the Republican candidates actually sound a populist tone on (executive) compensation that is probably equal to Obama and Clinton at this point," said Patrick McGurn, special counsel at corporate governance services and risk management firm RiskMetrics Group.

Sen. Obama, who leads Clinton in the delegate count, introduced "say-on-pay" legislation in the U.S. Senate last year to give investors more influence on the pay packages of executives.

Clinton supports the Senate bill. The New York senator has called the multi-million-dollar executive pay packages offensive and wants to eliminate tax breaks enjoyed by Wall Street money managers.

Sen. McCain, an Arizona Republican, has said he is mindful of soaring executive pay and is seen as one of the more investor-friendly Republicans. Investors are also comforted by the fact that McCain was supportive of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law of 2002 which was enacted to protect investors after a wave of corporate scandals.