Consistent with one of the major themes of the proxy season, in its voting report for the first half of 2023, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) attributed its significant level of opposition to shareholder proposals on environmental and social topics to concerns about the proposals’ prescriptiveness (i.e., the specific demands and wording of proposal) or scope (i.e., specific circumstances of the company at which the proposal is filed). Of 262 E&S proposals NBIM opposed, concerns regarding prescriptiveness and scope were associated with 54% and 40% of those proposals, respectively.
Season-over-season, NBIM’s support for lobbying and political contributions, board related, and shareholder rights proposals increased; however, its support for human capital management, human rights, climate change, other environmental, and compensation proposals declined.
Its voting support within these broader categories (by sub-topic) varied, as detailed in the report.
See “Norway fund wants more women on boards, concerned about excessive CEO pay” (Reuters) and additional resources on our Institutional Investors page.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!