Voting in focus

Voting and engagement make up the twin pillars of stewardship and, whilst we engage with companies year-round, voting season is generally concentrated in the second quarter. We take our voting responsibilities seriously. The opportunity to vote enables us to encourage boards and management teams to consider and address areas we are concerned about, or to show our support. We review relevant issues and exercise our judgement, based on our in-depth knowledge of each company, and we aim to be clear, consistent and thoughtful when casting our vote. We have a proxy voting policy and supplement this with internal voting guidelines that provide context for voting decisions.

GLENCORE

Questions persist over the company’s alignment with the Paris Agreement, and ISS raised concerns about its investment in the energy transition, and its advocacy and lobbying activities.

AMAZON

We voted against two directors whose tenure breaches our internal threshold. Over-tenured directors can lead to entrenchment, which in turn can compromise independence and diminish a board’s effectiveness in representing the interests of shareholders.

BP

We voted against a shareholder resolution calling for BP to align its existing 2030 emissions reduction aims covering Scope 3 emissions with the goal of the Paris Agreement. ISS also recommended a vote against; whilst acknowledging the merits of the proposal, it noted that the proposal would represent a change in strategy, implying a potential constraint on the board’s ability to develop and implement strategy.