To fulfill our asset stewardship responsibility, we rely on two main tools: voting at shareholder meetings and engaging with companies.
The aim of our Asset Stewardship program is to promote robust governance, including board oversight, and disclosures. The board of directors is accountable for overseeing a company’s material risks and opportunities and providing adequate disclosure of such. Therefore, the board is the main focus of our engagement and voting activities. We focus on electing capable directors and holding them accountable for disclosure and effective oversight of a company’s long-term strategy.
We have organized our proxy voting and engagement program around three broad principles:
Effective Board Oversight: We believe that well-governed companies can protect and pursue shareholder interests better and withstand the challenges of an uncertain economic environment.
Disclosure: It is important for shareholders to receive timely and accurate reporting of a company’s financial performance and strategy so that they are able to assess both the value and risk of their investment.
Shareholder Protection: We believe it is in the best interest of shareholders for companies to have appropriate shareholder rights and accountability mechanisms in place.
Using our Proxy Voting and Engagement Principles as a foundation, we focus on thematic issues that present opportunities and challenges to the companies our clients are invested in. The themes include climate risk management, diversity, equity & inclusion, and human capital management.
View all of our voting guidelines and expectations.
Our 2022 report showcases the engagement and voting activity we undertook in our mission to protect and promote the long-term economic value of client investments.
State Street Global Advisors has expanded its proxy voting choice program. Now, even more investors have the power to direct the proxy voting of shares held in the eligible equity index funds and segregated accounts they own.
For questions or any further information on our stewardship program, please email the Governance Team at State Street Global Advisors.