{"id":24167,"date":"2023-05-02T08:10:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/genuscap.com\/?p=24167"},"modified":"2026-03-17T13:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T20:38:15","slug":"how-shareholder-engagement-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genuscap.com\/fr\/how-shareholder-engagement-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment l'engagement des actionnaires permet aux entreprises de rendre des comptes aux investisseurs"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Every spring in Canada, the big five banks<\/span> open their doors for their annual general meetings\u00b9<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s an opportunity for anyone who invests in the banks \u2013 either individually or through an investment portfolio \u2013 to meet company management, elect new directors and vote on issues of importance to the\u00a0<\/span>organizations\u2019 general operations and strategic priorities. And it\u2019s not unique to the banks, of course. All public companies are required to host an AGM and allow shareholders to participate and have their say.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But this year, the bank AGMs were a lively affair, with many activist shareholders offering up proposals for action on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. These proposals ranged from asking the banks to consider the climate impact of their lending and investments\u00b2<\/a>, and to perform racial equity audits\u00b3<\/a> of their employment, compensation and business practices. In the case of racial equity\u2074<\/a>, three of the five big banks voted in support of a third-party audit \u2014 all thanks to the efforts of engaged shareholders. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Working collectively to effect change<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Shareholder engagement is an important part of investing in an equities-based portfolio. And Genus takes on this role on behalf of our clients, participating in AGMs for all of our holdings by way of <\/span>SHARE<\/span><\/a>, the Shareholder Association for Research and Education, an organization that represents a collective of investors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

SHARE specializes in shareholder engagement, helping investors leverage their position to influence corporate decision-making, and meeting with company management to discuss areas of interest or concern.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Genus works with SHARE to help its investors \u2014 especially those who are ESG or impact focused \u2014 effect meaningful change through their portfolios; in 2021 alone, Genus endorsed 70 engagements with 56 unique companies. While some companies can be screened out entirely from Genus funds if they have sub-par ESG ratings or practices, a <\/span>high carbon footprint, or substantial exposure to non-socially responsible business, <\/span>the reality is that many companies, especially big financial institutions, are <\/span>an important part of a balanced portfolio\u2075<\/a>, even if they don\u2019t have a perfect ESG track record. That\u2019s where shareholder engagement comes into play \u2014 helping to advance ESG policy by shaping long-term corporate strategies from the inside.<\/span><\/p>

Collectively, SHARE represents investors with $90 billion in assets under management, providing a powerful voice at the decision-making table when it comes to ESG issues. \u201cEvery quarter, our Chief Sustainability Officer sits down with SHARE to get progress updates on the success of their engagements \u2014 and what they are working on, or will be working on,\u201d says Stephanie Tsui, Portfolio Manager and Head of Foundations & Non-Profits at Genus. \u201cAnd then annually, the asset owners or institutional investors represented by SHARE sit together and brainstorm the major themes that the program should focus on for the upcoming year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Accelerating progress on key issues\n\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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This year, says Tsui, the major areas of focus for Genus investors have been climate change, reconciliation, decent work and human rights. And on climate change in particular, there have been some important recent victories thanks to shareholder engagement, she adds, especially with some of the big banks.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIn 2021, SHARE co-filed a shareholder proposal with another foundation client of ours asking Scotiabank to accelerate its transition to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,\u201d Tsui says. \u201cThey asked to have more disclosure concerning Scotiabank\u2019s lending policy, and called on them to adopt more green finance principles <\/span>by aligning their financial products and services to the energy sector within the goals of the Paris Agreement, <\/span>and to do more exclusion in terms of high-carbon projects.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

There was a lot of back-and-forth engagement dialogue, adds Tsui, but ultimately \u201cScotiabank agreed to pull up the curtain\u201d and disclose more information about their lending, as well as put together an assessment tool that measures carbon risk in their portfolios. \u201cThese are some of the concrete changes that can happen because of shareholder engagement,\u201d Tsui says.<\/span><\/p>

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Effective engagement means asking the right questions<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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While individual investors can always take action on their own, Tsui argues that it\u2019s very hard to bring about change without the dedicated time and resources that a shareholder engagement firm like SHARE offers. \u201cEngagement is a long process, and SHARE has a team of 12 to 14 people dedicated to this work, constantly engaging in dialogue,\u201d she notes.<\/span><\/p>

For investors who really want to be more involved, Tsui recommends talking to your investment advisor and asking a few key questions. \u201cFirstly, ask to make sure your advisor even does shareholder engagement, then ask what areas they focus on. And ask for a sample of their engagement \u2014 ask to see the proxy voting records.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Not all shareholder proposals succeed, of course. And some proxy votes<\/span> are ultimately ignored by the company\u2076<\/span><\/a> concerned. But with a long-term strategy \u2013 planting the seeds of engagement early with meetings and dialogue, then tending to them with proposals and proxy votes \u2013 shareholder engagement can create positive movement toward big changes. For impact investors looking to bring about positive change in the world, every little seed counts.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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References<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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[1] A beginner’s guide to AGM season (no date) Banktrack. Available at: https:\/\/www.banktrack.org\/blog\/a_beginner_s_guide_to_agm_season#:~:text=An%20AGM%20occurs%20soon%20after,banks%20between%20November%20and%20December. (Accessed: April 14, 2023). <\/span><\/p>

[2] Hudson, C. (2023) RBC investors reject racial equity audit, climate proxy bids (1), Bloomberg Law. Available at: https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/esg\/rbc-investors-reject-racial-equity-audit-climate-proxy-bids (Accessed: April 14, 2023).<\/p>

[3] Milstead, D. (2023) RBC, BMO Resist Shareholder Request for racial equity audits, The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. Available at: https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-rbc-bmo-resist-racial-equity-audits\/ (Accessed: April 14, 2023).<\/p>

[4] Marotta, S. (2023) RBC boss defends financing strategy related to climate change, The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. Available at: https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-rbc-ceo-agm-shareholders\/ (Accessed: April 14, 2023).\u00a0<\/p>

[5] Marketing, G. (2023) The truth about your impact mix, Genus. Available at: https:\/\/genuscap.com\/truth-about-impact-mix\/ (Accessed: April 14, 2023).\u00a0<\/p>

[6] Norton, L. (2023) What to expect from this year’s proxy-voting season, Morningstar, Inc. Available at: https:\/\/www.morningstar.com\/sustainable-investing\/what-expect-this-years-proxy-voting-season (Accessed: April 14, 2023).\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L'engagement des actionnaires est un aspect important de l'investissement dans un portefeuille d'actions. Genus assume ce r\u00f4le au nom de ses clients, en participant aux assembl\u00e9es g\u00e9n\u00e9rales de toutes ses participations par l'interm\u00e9diaire de SHARE.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,27],"tags":[110],"class_list":["post-24167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-market-insights","tag-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Shareholder Engagement Works for Companies - Genus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how companies are using shareholder engagement to stay accountable to investors and address their concerns.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/genuscap.com\/fr\/how-shareholder-engagement-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_CA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Shareholder Engagement Works to Keep Companies Accountable to Investors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shareholder engagement is an important part of investing in an equities-based portfolio. 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