Norway fund counts Pioneer board voting as success

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Norway's $550 billion sovereign wealth fund, which wants a bigger voice at the U.S. companies in which it invests, counts a recent corporate governance change at oil and gas explorer Pioneer Natural Resources Co as an early success.

Norges Bank Investment Management, whose U.S. holdings account for about a fifth of its funds and which last reported owning 0.5 percent of Pioneer, welcomed the Dallas company's decision to have majority voting for directors and ultimately hold annual elections for board members.

"Pioneer, after discussions that we had with them, have done some major governance improvements," Anne Kvam, global head of ownership for the fund, said in an interview. "We are happy to see that."

Late last year, the fund decided to target six companies it felt had the worst governance among its U.S. holdings. It also filed proposals with Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab , Western Union, Staples and CME Group to make it easier for shareholders to nominate directors.

"We are long-term shareholders - our investment horizon is 30 to 50 years," Kvam said. "In that long context it's quite essential for us to have good corporate governance and accountable boards. We see this as a means to reduce unwanted risk in a portfolio."

The fund has since withdrawn its so-called proxy access proposal for Pioneer.

On Jan. 26, Pioneer said its board approved an amendment of the company bylaws to require majority votes from shareholders for directors, instead of just a plurality, while phasing out board member classification and having them all face annual elections by 2015.

A Pioneer spokeswoman declined to comment further on Friday. (Reporting by Anne Saphir in Chicago and Braden Reddall in San Francisco. Editing by Gunna Dickson)