Proxy Voting
Proxy voting is one of the most important rights available to public equity investors. UTAM’s approach to proxy voting reflects our fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of our client. We also expect our third-party investment managers to act in the best interest of their clients when voting proxies. To that end, we routinely review the proxy voting practices of our public equity investment managers as part of our due diligence reviews. As a responsible investor and PRI signatory, UTAM has adopted the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) Sustainability Proxy Voting Guidelines, and we apply these guidelines wherever possible.
The ISS Sustainability Proxy Voting Guidelines are consistent with the objectives of investors who take an integration approach to responsible investing. Investment managers have traditionally analyzed topics such as board accountability and executive compensation to mitigate risk; incorporating ESG performance into investment decisions provides a more comprehensive understanding of the overall risk profile of investees. On ESG-related matters, ISS sustainability policies promote recognized global governing bodies that encourage sustainable business practices advocating for environmental stewardship, fair labour practices, non-discrimination, and human rights protections. On matters of corporate governance, executive compensation and corporate structure, these policies aim to create and preserve economic value and to advance principles of good corporate governance.
Our proxy voting record
In 2023, UTAM and its investment managers of funds in which the Endowment was invested cast proxy votes at over 9,950 meetings, representing over 106,500 proposals and agenda items put forward by either management or shareholders. In just over 12% of cases, votes were cast against management’s recommendations.
These proxy voting statistics are for public equity mandates where either the ISS Sustainability Proxy Voting Guidelines were applied in 2023 or, in the majority of cases, where our third-party investment managers provided proxy voting information for the pooled funds in which Endowment assets were invested.
Meetings by country/region*
35.1%
US
35.0%
Asia
14.1%
Europe
11.5%
Other
4.4%
Canada
*Numbers may not add up to 100.0% due to rounding.