Voting and engagement
As a pioneering sustainable investor, we vote and engage to help foster sustainable and inclusive growth so that our clients, stakeholders and society as a whole can thrive.
Voting
Our voting policy and activity is based on four key principles, set out below:
The protection of shareholders
Long-term interests of shareholders
Equal treatment
Rights of minority shareholders
Cooperation among shareholders
Sound corporate governance
Efficient and independent management centered around:
The role and composition of the Board of Directors
Committees and advisory boards
Avoiding conflicts of interest
Transparency and integrity of information
Reliable, clear, comprehensive and timely:
Financial statements
Remuneration policy
Social, environmental and good governance responsibility
As a responsible shareholder, we use our voice to leverage our global commitments to ESG, namely:
6 UNPRI-principles
TCFD recommendations
Net zero by 2050 or sooner
OECD recommendations on social and environmental responsibility
Dialogue
We systematically engage in dialogue with companies regarding our voting activity in the following areas:
Remuneration
Remuneration – the policy and report should be aligned with long-term sustainability
Separation
Separation of CEO/Chairman roles
Independence
Independence of the board of directors
Protection for shareholders
Respect for the 'one share, one vote, one dividend' principle and protection against anti-takeover mechanisms
Climate
Say on Climate and climate change policy
Dialogue
We systematically engage in dialogue with companies regarding our voting activity in the following areas:
Remuneration
Remuneration – the policy and report should be aligned with long-term sustainability
Separation
Separation of CEO/Chairman roles
Independence
Independence of the board of directors
Protection for shareholders
Respect for the 'one share, one vote, one dividend' principle and protection against anti-takeover mechanisms
Climate
Say on Climate and climate change policy
Engagement
Engaging is central to our approach and we act in accordance with two key principles:
Do not harm principle
Qualitative checks to identify controversies and engage with companies to improve potential shortcomings if necessary
Review companies exposed to controversies
Decide to engage and/or divest
Share best practice to establish sustainable and inclusive growth
Defend values and convictions
Identify key topics that merit a proactive stance to defend values and convictions across the three ESG dimensions:
Environment, including climate change
Social, particularly human rights
Governance, including corporate governance
Engagement priorities
Here are our environmental, social and governance engagement priorities:
Environment
Science-based targets
Transition plans
Scope 3 emissions
Social
Digital rights
Due diligence on social rights in supply chains
Conflict affected and high risk areas
Unionisation and union busting
Governance
ESG board oversight
Integration of ESG risks in the enterprise’s risk management
Board composition
Tax equity and avoidance
Engagement priorities
Here are our environmental, social and governance engagement priorities:
Environment
Science-based targets
Transition plans
Scope 3 emissions
Social
Digital rights
Due diligence on social rights in supply chains
Conflict affected and high risk areas
Unionisation and union busting
Governance
ESG board oversight
Integration of ESG risks in the enterprise’s risk management
Board composition
Tax equity and avoidance
Collaborative and individual
To increase the impact of engagement, we join collaborative initiatives when they fit our priorities. We also pursue engagements ourselves and have a clear engagement escalation process.
Companies and countries
We engage with companies to reduce the negative effects of their operations and we set ESG expectations to seek to guide their policies in a positive way. Our proactive approach also helps companies to avoid potential controversies. We favour funding countries that are managed sustainably and engage with countries for mutual learning and to help them develop sustainably. Twice a year, we publish country sustainability rankings, which serve as a basis for dialogue.
Connecting voting and engagement
We proactively use our shareholder responsibility to contribute to our sustainable goals. We vote to reinforce our engagement priorities and in accordance with our fundamental ESG analysis.
Relevant policies, reports and rankings
For more information please click here to access the voting results for all voted companies, including our voting decisions on each agenda item. Please find below our voting and engagement reports and policies as well as our country sustainability rankings.
Want to know more about sustainability at DPAM?
Check out DPAM's approach to sustainability including our policies, reports, collaborations and much more.