By Ross Kerber, US Sustainable Business Correspondent |
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You'll have to wait until August for securities filings to come in showing how top fund managers voted most of their proxies as a contentious corporate meeting season gets going. But some asset managers make a practice of pre-announcing their votes, which could boost their influence.
You can read more about the idea in my column this week, linked below. I've also included items about Brazil's climate goal, a regulatory win for BlackRock, and new environmental pressure on asset managers from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. Please connect with me on LinkedIn and/or Bluesky. Or get me via ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com. Also, some bookkeeping: there will be no newsletter next week, see you on May 7. |
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Antoine Arnault, Image and Environment Director at LVMH, speaks during the company's annual shareholders meeting in Paris, France, April 17, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes |
Funds get in front of their proxy ballots |
Most asset managers don't say how they plan to vote at corporate annual meetings. That leaves activists with small shareholdings but big social agendas to do much of the pre-meeting talking on contentious issues like corporate climate policies or diversity, equity and inclusion programs. No drama can be a good thing for many investors, especially at a time when top fund firms face pressure from Washington to leave portfolio companies alone. But academics have suggested investors might claim more influence if they were to make their voting intentions public before the events. I talked to several asset managers who make these pre-announcements. You can read their comments in this week's column by clicking the button below. |
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| - BlackRock scored a win on Friday when U.S. energy regulators said the top asset manager could continue to own major stakes in public utility companies, acknowledging but setting aside concerns it wields too much influence.
- Minority shareholders in Norway's Equinor said its board must explain how its plan to raise oil and gas production aligns with its commitment to the Paris agreement on curbing climate change.
- New York City Comptroller Brad Lander on Tuesday said public pension funds he oversees may drop asset managers if they do not include strong standards in their Net Zero plans by June 30.
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Pope Francis records a video message during COP28 in Dubai, in this image released on December 3, 2023. Vatican Media/ via REUTERS |
- Pope Francis, who died on Monday, leaves a legacy that includes a landmark 2015 encyclical on protecting the environment titled Laudato Si.
- Brazil hopes to persuade Europe, China and other economies to commit to serious emission cuts, sources told Reuters. Brazil will host this year's United Nations climate summit in November, ten years after the landmark Paris agreement to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.
- Climate-focused U.S. nonprofits are preparing to defend their tax exemptions, fearing the Trump administration could take steps including changing IRS rules and blocking the use of U.S. grants to fund overseas work.
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