Stewardship and Governance
Being an active investment manager means being a better investor
We engage regularly with investee entities on critical ESG (environmental, social, governance) practices. This allows us to actively protect and enhance the long-term interests of shareholders and other stakeholders through stewardship activities such as proxy voting and corporate engagement along with our work driving sustainable markets.
- Voting
Shareholders of public companies have a right to vote on proposals brought before them at annual and special meetings. Voting is one of the most important rights a shareholder has, and we see it as a powerful means to influence companies, to help improve their governance, and to signal our level of confidence in management. Before every shareholder meeting, we scrutinize each ballot item and use our best efforts to exercise our clients’ voting rights. We usually vote “by proxy” by instructing a third party to vote our clients’ shares in a manner that is consistent with our Proxy Voting Policy and our clients’ long-term interests. In some circumstances, we may also attend meetings to vote in person.
- Engagement with companies
Our corporate engagement activities involve purposeful dialogue with investee entities on important matters identified through monitoring, and on matters that are the subject of votes at shareholder meetings. We may further engage with company management on issues we feel strongly about or if we have specific concerns about a company’s strategy, performance, governance, compensation or approach to risks. If the company is unresponsive or unable to address our concerns in a manner that helps to optimize long-term value, we may file a shareholder proposal or sell the security.