Investors Form Their House Views

The article covers AQTION’s second edition of the “Stewardship in AQTION” report, which analyses the stewardship practices of 65 of the world’s largest institutional investors, collectively managing over $91 trillion in assets.

The key findings highlighted by Expansión include:

• 57 of the 65 investors publicly disclose their voting policies. However, except for NBIM, sovereign wealth funds generally do not provide details on how they assess agenda items at shareholder meetings. Investors such as Norges Bank Investment Management (“NBIM”) and CPP Investments have developed their own internal voting guidelines.
• 18 investors have adopted region-specific voting policies to account for different regulatory and governance contexts. For example, HSBC Global Asset Management recently introduced a dedicated European Voting Policy.
• Most investors use the services of ISS and Glass Lewis, with ISS serving as the primary advisor for 50 investors, compared to 9 for Glass Lewis. Despite this, only 9 of the 65 investors show “High” confidence in proxy advisor recommendations, while 35 display “Low” reliance. According to ISS, 91% of the votes it processes reflect clients’ customised voting policies.
• 39 investors have publicly stated that they expect boards to respond to shareholder concerns. Where boards fail to act, investors may escalate engagement or hold directors accountable.

The full article can be accessed using this link.