These discussions often already take place before a company is added to the investable universe, as we assess companies quantitatively and qualitatively for their contribution to our sustainable transition themes and alignment with our minimum standards. Given the fund’s robust impact investment criteria, we only select companies that drive positive change. Therefore, we do not need to use a forceful approach to engagement, but rather can address companies with open, constructive dialogue to understand their business proposition and sustainability challenges more deeply. Only if a company has breached or is nearing a breach of our investment criteria will our engagement become more forceful, and, if deemed unsuccessful, the company will be divested.
Direct company engagement
We have one-on-one conversations with companies to discuss sustainability topics that are important to us as an impact investor. We explore companies’ perspectives, policies, and business practices around our transition themes and minimum standards to understand the depth of their commitments to long-term positive impact. We use a variety of methods to connect with companies, including on-site visits, conference calls, letters, and email.
Collaborative and industry engagement
We believe that sustainability challenges cannot be solved alone. We therefore also participate in joint engagement initiatives alongside other institutional investors. Together with professional associations, public policy makers, legislators, regulators, industry bodies and other relevant stakeholders (NGOs, international organisations, etc.) we strive to shape an environment in which companies and investors can operate more sustainably. Collaborative engagement increases the visibility of the topics being discussed and expands the overall power of our engagement activities.
Proxy voting
We vote in-person or by proxy for all investments in which we hold voting shares. As we do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach, we consider resolutions always within the context a company is operating in. Applying our company-wide vision for sustainability, we vote the same for all shares we hold in a company, across all funds and portfolios. Please see our Proxy Voting Guidelines. Below, you can find our full voting records, including how votes were cast and the reasons for any opposition to management. We inform all investees of our decisions to stimulate awareness.
Voting records
As of January 2022, we have changed to Glass Lewis as proxy voting advisor. Glass Lewis is very capable of implementing the Triodos Proxy Voting Guidelines into their voting advise, which is provided to the research team of the Impact Equities and Bonds funds. In addition, Glass Lewis has very good IT capabilities that enable Triodos to execute proxy voting and reporting efficiently, with extensive proxy voting reports and the possibility to distinguish between funds. Find our voting records as of January 2022 here.
Our voting records prior to 2022 can be found here.
