We take an active approach to stewardship through engagement, proxy voting and advocacy. This allows us the flexibility to address emerging sustainability issues that matter most to our clients and work with firms to achieve better outcomes. Active ownership covers all asset classes, and the mechanisms of driving change, timeframes and level of influence can differ, depending on the unique characteristics of each asset class.
Effective stewardship is art building on science. Our 5-year climate engagement program is built on simplification bottom-up science-based analysis that guides skillful engagement, combining professionalism and craftsmanship. Strong governance is the foundation of every company's unique long-term growth and positive financial performance journey.
Lucy Thomas, Head of Sustainable Investing at UBS Asset Management
Stewardship plays a central role within our investment approach; it helps us meet both client and regulatory expectations. The UBS Stewardship Report focuses on the outcomes we believe our activities have delivered in the past year on clients and society in general.
Our engagement in 2023
471 engagement meetings.- 64% of engagement interactions achieved progress against pre-defined objectives.
- 25% of engagement interactions gave us specific insights in relation to AGM items and proxy voting.
- 320 companies engaged with across regions and sectors.
- 44% of engagement meetings with CEO/CFO and other C-Suite representatives.
- 40% of companies engaged with are situated in EMEA, 43% in Americas and 18% in Asia-Pacific.
Our proxy voting in 2023:
- 60 countries voted in globally.
- 11,445 shareholder meetings in which votes were submitted, upon 117,512 separate resolutions.
- 20,972 in which management recommendations were voted against (18% of total resolutions voted).
- 68% of meetings voted globally at least one resolution was cast as a vote against management.
- 1,611 shareholder resolutions voted related to ESG topics with 198 shareholder proposals voted related to environmental issues and 304 related to social issues.
- 68% support of all ESG shareholder resolutions.
A key part of our approach to Active ownership is thematic engagement. We use thematic engagements to focus on specific social and environmental themes where we believe these can help to foster positive outcomes for company performance, people and the planet:
- Climate change
- Natural capital
- Human capital
- Human rights
- Health
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Introducing our leadership team
Meet the members of the team responsible for UBS Asset Management’s strategic direction.
