A report* from SquareWell Partners on the results of its study on how 30 of the largest asset managers approach climate change revealed these and other key takeaways:
- Of the 30 asset managers, seven have disclosed a policy on divestment from companies that negatively contribute to climate change.
- Climate change considerations are increasingly included in investors’ voting policies; 13 of the 30 asset managers either reference climate change as a relevant factor in their evaluation of director elections or have provided a climate-related concern as a rationale for voting against director nominees.
- Investors with more assets under management have been more hesitant to support climate-related shareholder proposals. European asset managers are more supportive of climate-related shareholder proposals.
- Since January 2018, 102 companies received a total of 162 climate-related shareholder proposals across ten countries. Companies in the ‘Financials’ and ‘Industrials’ sectors were the most targeted, making up 25% and 21% of all companies targeted, respectively.
- Shareholder proposals asking for companies to report on their climate policy-aligned lobbying practices were the most prevalent, representing 31% of all proposals filed.
- ISS and Glass Lewis supported 68% and 47% of climate-related shareholder proposals, respectively, during the period under review.
*You can access the report on a complimentary basis from SquareWell Partners’ website here.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!