In 2015 Standard Life Investments (SLI) significantly increased its company engagement activity and the number of times it held company boards to account, voting on 21,056 resolutions (2014 – 20,438) at 1,732 shareholder meetings (2014 – 1,633), and voting against management recommendations on 1,248 resolutions (2014 – 907).
It engaged with companies about a range of corporate governance issues such as board composition, succession planning, executive pay and audit tendering, according to its Governance & Stewardship Annual Review 2015.
The report provides an account of its engagement and voting activities during the year as well as insights into SLI’s views on some of the key global developments in governance & stewardship.
It also increased its engagement with companies outside the UK, with 22% of one-to-one governance meetings held with companies outside the UK compared to 9% in 2014.
Guy Jubb, Global Head of Governance & Stewardship at SLI says, “The role of asset managers and their use of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in making investment decisions is receiving increasing focus around the world. At Standard Life Investments, the analysis and mitigation of the ESG risks of companies has been integral to our investment proposition since 1992 and these activities will continue to develop as they become increasingly important to clients, advisers, regulators and policy makers.”
SLI offers a range of investment options and is strong in Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) .
You can read the full Governance and Stewardship Review for 2015 here
