State Street Global Advisors will no longer have a numerical overboarding limit related to director time commitments and won’t use the limits to identify overcommitted directors, according to the investment firm’s much-awaited proxy voting guidelines.Instead, SSGA will vote against the chair of the nominating and governance committee at S&P 500 companies that don’t clearly disclose…
Category: proxy voting
Strong Support for Climate Risk Resolutions from UK Funds
A new report from Follow This shows strong support for the Paris Accords from UK funds. “The voting rationales of the UK’s ten largest asset managers reflect that none of the asset managers believe Shell and BP’s strategies are Paris aligned despite the companies’ claims that they are.” From the report: • In 2022, the ten largest UK asset managers…
Young Retail Investors Showing Muscle on Proxy Votes — Agenda
As we have often pointed out, there is a significant demographic shift in favor of engagement, especially on ESG issues. Retail investors are increasingly interested in holding companies accountable for environmental, social and governance issues, along with financial issues, and using their shares to do so. This is especially true for younger investors, according to…
How to Vote Your 2023 Proxies to Protect Diversified Portfolios – The Shareholder Commons
The Shareholder Commons has an excellent guide to voting proxies this season, very easy to use and more vital than ever with all of the fake anti-ESG proposals disguised to look like legitimate proposals. Proxy season allows shareholders to tell companies how they want their capital applied in the real economy. Among other matters, shareholders…
UK pension funds target BP and Shell directors over climate goals- FT | Reuters
Two of the UK’s largest pension schemes will vote against the renewal of top directors at BP Plc (BP.L) and Shell Plc (SHEL.L) at their annual meetings unless both companies strengthen commitments to tackling carbon emissions, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The plan by Britain’s Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and Borders to Coast, which…
As Markets Fall, Governance Rises in Importance | Morningstar
“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” Warren Buffett’s famous analogy highlights how a downturn in the strength of the markets or the economy, reveals previously-hidden risks and weaknesses for companies and investors. Although many investors have recently given most of their attention to the “E” and “S” parts…
Shareholder participation on the rise in the UK | Financial Times
UK retail investors are taking a more active role in their holdings, according to data showing a surge in voting participation among shareholders. Some 210,000 shareholder votes were processed by fund supermarket Interactive Investor in 2022, a 30 per cent increase on the previous year. The boost came in the first full year since the…
ISS Proxy Guidance Updates: Climate Change, CEO Pay, Political Contributions, Diversity, “Problematic Governance”
Each year, Institutional Shareholder Services updates its proxy voting policies based on feedback from its clients and current developments. Highlights from the updates for US companies in 2023 (emphasis added in italics). Climate Accountability For 2023, for high emitting companies – identified as those in the Climate Action 100+ Focus Group – ISS is extending the framework for all…
Highlights of the new DOL/EBSA Rule on ESG
Emphasis added. Full text of the rule.
US Department of Labor announces final rule to remove barriers to considering environmental, social, governance factors in plan investments | U.S. Department of Labor
We are delighted that the DOL/EBSA has issued a new rule on ESG and proxy voting, making it clear that ESG factors are a legitimate concern for ERISA fiduciaries in assessing risk and return. The rule takes effect in 60 days except for some of the proxy voting provisions which will take effect in a…
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