The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is focusing on robust corporate governance, the protection of shareholder rights and effective oversight of environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities as part of its latest proxy voting guidelines.
In a press release, Jennifer Coulson, senior managing director and global head of ESG at the BCI, said proxy voting and engagement go together as a method to tackle a complicated risk like climate change.
When it comes to climate action, the BCI emphasized climate-related voting aligned with a commitment to see at least 80 per cent of their most carbon-intensive investments define mature net-zero commitments or to at least be actively engaged by the investment organization.
Read: BCI targeting methane emissions, board diversity: stewardship report
The investment organization also expects to see companies align with its support to include ESG objectives as part of any executive compensation plans’ performance goals and for companies to properly disclose and ensure effective oversight of material ESG risks.
“Proxy voting is a vital tool for driving corporate accountability and ESG performance in public markets,” said Daniel Garant, the BCI’s executive vice-president and global head of public markets, in the release. “[The] BCI’s latest guidelines build on two decades of industry leadership, raising the bar for companies across our global portfolio.”
The BCI is prioritizing accountability at companies by setting up new guidelines to vote against proposals seeking officer exculpation — a practice that can limit or eliminate personal liability of executives that breached their duty of care.
It’s also looking to vote against proposals for virtual-only shareholder meetings, since they can limit meaningful investor participation and limit audit committee chairs or other members in cases where non-audit fees are 50 per cent or greater than audit fees or if tenure is 20 years or more and non-audit fees exceed 25 per cent.
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