Voting
Your vote, your voice — active ownership in action.
We aim to catalyze change. Our goal is to harness the power of investors to hold companies accountable for what we stand behind—like strengthening our workforce, restoring the climate, and increasing transparency.1
Shareholder voting is an increasing area of focus for investors who want to catalyze positive change, and 2021 stands out as a watershed year.2 We’re seeing:
- More proposals: The number of environment and social (E&S) proposals submitted by shareholders of the country’s largest public companies is up 27%, from 320 to 408.
- Increasing support: Average support for environmental proposals grew from 32% to 41%. Support for social proposals increased by two percentage points to 30%. And diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) proposals doubled in support from 24% to 47%.
- Accelerating progress: Successful E&S proposals nearly doubled, from 17 to 30. This includes 11 climate-related proposals, a marked increase from 3 in 2020 and 0 in 2019.3 A high proportion of shareholder proposals (29%) spurred action ahead of the company’s annual meeting, leading proponents to withdraw them before a vote.4
- Still, a significant need to improve: Despite this, 80% of E&S proposals still failed. This includes over 70% of climate-related reporting proposals and 75% of proposals meant to increase oversight around corporate political spending and lobbying. Average support for E&S proposals remains only 34%, over ten percentage points higher than it was five years ago, but still far below the majority threshold.5
27%
Growth of submitted E&S proposals
in 2021 over 2020
34%
Average support for E&S proposals
in 2021
80%
E&S proposals that failed
in 2021
We believe there is a better way. We share our voting record and push other funds to do the same so investors can see where their money is making a difference.
