ShareAction, a UK-based shareholder advocacy group, revealed the results of proxy shareholder voting by investment companies in its latest report. They compared the records of 68 of the world’s largest asset managers across 252 shareholder proposals.
The report highlighted that support for environmental and social proposals rose in 2022, but that a few large asset managers significantly scaled back their support for ESG-related measures. The most significant drop-off was reported on environmental resolutions aimed at firms in the energy sector.
With some of the biggest asset managers in the world voting for significantly fewer climate and social resolutions than they did in 2021, there were examples of resolutions addressing urgent environmental and social issues that would have received majority support if these companies had voted for them.
However, Franklin Templeton increased its support for such measures during 2022, to 56%. This represented a 31 percentage point increase on the previous year. On the progress made by Franklin Templeton, Anne Simpson commented “It is heartening to see the progress on stewardship, which reflects hard work and commitment by many”.
These risks identified in the resolutions we have supported are relevant to shareholder value; Franklin Templeton’s investment teams have sought to support high quality shareholder resolutions that represent meaningful proponent engagement, where we can expect the outcome to improve the resilience of the company, underpinning our fiduciary duty to deliver repeatable risk-adjusted returns to our clients.
It should be noted that globally, the report paints a more encouraging picture, with votes for environmental and social resolutions increasing from 60% in 2021 to 66% in 2022. This was largely due to the significant increases in performance among European managers, who backed more than 80% of measures.
The parts of the business referred to as Franklin Templeton include:
Franklin Equity Group
Franklin Income Investors
Franklin Real Asset Advisers
Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Equity
Franklin Templeton Fixed Income
Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions
Franklin Templeton Private Equity Group
Franklin Venture Partners
K2 Advisors
Templeton Global Equity Group
Templeton Global Macro