Francois De Bruin, multi-asset investor at Aviva Investors, says he uses the frequency with which ESG fund managers use their vote at AGMs as a barometer of how committed the fund is to ESG principles.
David Czupryna, head of ESG at Candriam, describes the voting power an asset manager has as a “weapon” that can be deployed to help with the engagement.
One firm he deployed this approach with was BHP, where he focused on trying to get the company to reduce its exposure to coal, a campaign he says that was ultimately successful.
Archie Pearson, voting and engagement analyst on the ESG team at Rathbones also believes voting is the “most powerful and often only” tool a shareholder has, but does not believe this voting power is used enough to full effect by some investors.
