The Wall Street Journal writes:

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a rule that would require money managers to disclose more information on how they use their voting power.

When investors buy a mutual fund and exchange-traded fund from an asset manager, the money manager votes on shareholder proposals on behalf of the investors. Shareholder votes extend from issues from executive compensation to a company’s efforts to address climate change.

“Shareholder voting is at the heart of corporate democracy, and when those votes are cast by intermediaries, transparency is at the heart of our trust in that system,” said SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, a Democrat. 

The Wednesday proposal targets funds that manage trillions of dollars of money for investors. It follows a yearslong concern among some SEC officials that current disclosures make it difficult for individual investors to see how asset managers cast shareholder votes on their behalf.