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    Asset Stewardship Report

    Our 2021 report showcases the engagement and voting activity we undertook in our mission to build sustainable capital markets and maximize value for our clients.

    2021 in Review

    In 2021, we voted at nearly 21,000 meetings on over 190,000 management and shareholder proposals.

    asset stewardship report voting by region
    Number of Meetings Voted 20,902
    Management Proposals 186,906
    Shareholder Proposals 4,524
    Comprehensive Engagements 878
    Equity AUM Engaged 73%
    Countries 42

    Our Report

    Download the 2021 Asset Stewardship Report and the report snapshot.

    Climate Change

    Climate change is a long-standing core theme of our stewardship activities. In 2021, we pushed even further.

    ASR Climate Change

    In 2021, we believed it was more urgent than ever before to respond to growing climate risk. The latest UN IPCC report stressed the need for rapid, large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the “unequivocal” science behind climate change. Further, the pandemic highlighted the impact of systemic risks on global financial markets and reaffirmed the importance of prioritising such threats, including climate change, via our stewardship program. With this, we significantly increased our climate engagements in 2021 to 254, almost double that of 2020.

    Number of Engagements 254

    Engagement Topics

    • Board Oversight
    • Climate-Change Strategy
    • Board Governance and Oversight of Climate Change-Related Risks
    • Quality of Climate-Related Reporting and Discussion
    • Emissions Management Strategies
    • Investment in Technology
    • Public Policy Engagement
    • Climate Risk Disclosure

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Alongside our call on gender diversity, this year we increasingly focused on addressing systemic racial inequality.

    ASR Diversity

    We continue to lead the market with our Fearless Girl campaign and action behind gender diversity on corporate boards. Since the launch of our campaign in 2017, 948 companies (more than 60%) of the 1,548 companies we called on have added at least one woman director.* In 2021, we further increased our focus on social equity, instituting new guidance on Racial and Ethnic Diversity Disclosure and helping to drive improved disclosure on the racial and ethnic composition of boards.

    Number of Engagements 220

    Engagement Topics

    • Board Oversight
    • Goals and Strategy
    • Diversity Disclosures
    • Board Diversity

    Responsible Governance

    Guided by R-FactorTM, our own ESG scoring system, we continued to push for long-term sustainable value creation, higher-quality reporting standards, and the more efficient allocation of capital.

    ASR Responsible Governance

    During the 2021 proxy season, we started taking action against board members at companies in the S&P 500, FTSE 350, ASX 100, TOPIX 100, DAX30, and CAC 40 indices that were laggards based on their R-Factor scores and could not articulate how they planned to improve their score. R-Factor is our proprietary ESG scoring system that measures the performance of a company’s business operations andgovernance as it relates to financially material and industry-specific ESG risk factors.

    Number of Engagements 401

    Engagement Topics

    • R-Factor
    • Board Oversight 
    • ESG Disclosures and Practices

    Case Study Engagements

    Learn more on our successes and outcomes from our 2021 high-profile engagements with some of our investee companies.

    Voting and Guidance Library

    View all of our voting guidelines and expectations.

    About our Asset Stewardship Program

    Our Asset Stewardship program is focused on identifying issues that impact long-term sustainability of our portfolio companies. Across the world, we’re using our voice and our vote to drive change.

    More on Asset Stewardship

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