The Pensions Board is unusual for a fund our size in exercising out votes at company AGMs ourselves, in-house, rather than through our asset managers.
This allows us to maintain control of our voting policy, incorporate voting as an escalation tactic and have greater consideration over key resolutions that are important to our scheme members. We also maintain and apply our own list of restricted companies, again using this as an escalation tactic in our stewardship processes.
Our position as an asset owner means that we have an opportunity to set expectations, and work to ensure that sustainability is considered, applied well and in our interests across the institutions that we interact with, from our investee companies, our advisors and investment managers, to those we contract with (including insurers).
Our voting in 2024
We report on our voting in our annual stewardship reports:
- 1,046 voted at company meetings
- 15,902 of votable ballots voted
- 99.8% of proposals voted on
- 639 shareholder proposals voted
- 81.56% of votes with management
- 18.27% of votes against management
- 0.17% abstentions
- 0% unvoted
Recent pre-declared votes
| Company | AGM Date | Pre-declare announcement |
|---|---|---|
| Macquarie Group | 24 July 2024 | Church of England Pensions Board to vote in favour of fossil fuel lending disclosures |
| Next PLC | 15 May 2025 | Church of England Pensions Board to vote in support of fair reward for low-paid workers |
