Asset Stewardship
We utilize our Asset Stewardship program to engage with investee companies to seek long-term value and mitigate risk to our clients’ portfolios.
Our Approach
We use our stewardship tools to engage with investee companies on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues to seek long-term value. Through engagements, proxy voting, and thought leadership, we take an outcome-oriented approach to managing ESG risks and opportunities to our investments.
Pillars of Our Program
Thought Leadership: To inform and provide guidance to our investee companies on the development of ESG practices
Engagement: To encourage investee companies to develop transparent, accountable, high-performing boards and businesses
Proxy Voting: To incorporate our investment objectives and to align with our long-term investment horizon
Current Stewardship Priorities
Our stewardship program is anchored in three distinct pillars of ESG and their intersections.
We regularly identify thematic focus areas that guide our proxy voting and engagement efforts. Within these focus areas, we elevate outcome-oriented stewardship priorities each year based on factors including client demand, stakeholder interest, market trends, and financial materiality, among others.
Our Guidance
View all of our voting guidelines and expectations.
Annual Asset Stewardship Report
Our 2022 report showcases the engagement and voting activity we undertook in our mission to build sustainable capital markets and maximize value for our clients.
Proxy Voting Choice
Learn more about our recently expanded program to offer more investors the power to choose a voting policy that directs the proxy votes of shares owned in the index equity funds in which they are invested, including those owning certain US index equity SPDR ETFs and US mutual funds.
Our Target: Net Zero
We are a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative whose goal of net-zero carbon emissions is consistent with our commitment to drive long-term value for our clients.
Media Highlights
The Other Climate Risk Investors Need to Talk About
This Financial Times op-ed by our former CEO, Cyrus Taraporevala, speaks to the climate risk of “brown-spinning” and private equity.
Racial Diversity Stagnated on Corporate Boards
Benjamin Colton, Global Head of Asset Stewardship, Voting and Engagement, was featured in an Associated Press article on board diversity.
State Street Demands Specifics for ‘Bloody Hard’ Carbon Transitions
Cyrus Taraporevla, former President and CEO, is featured in a Financial Times exclusive on our transition plans in 2022.
Leadership
Benjamin and his colleagues are responsible for developing and implementing our global proxy voting policies and guidelines across all investment strategies and managing our proxy voting activities and issuer engagements on ESG issues. Prior to Ben’s current role, he was the Asset Stewardship’s team Head of Asia Pacific based in Tokyo, Japan.
More on Asset Stewardship
For questions or any further information on our stewardship program, please email the Governance Team at State Street Global Advisors.