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Shareholder activism pivots...

15 May 2023

3 min read

Shareholder activism pivots to sustainability

Shareholder activism is a tool that comes in handy for investors at the Annual General Meeting to challenge leaders of the world’s largest companies on key environmental and social issues.

Louisiana Salge
Louisiana Salge,

Head of Sustainability

Listed companies hold annual general meetings (AGMs) for all shareholders. These were originally designed to allow shareholders to cast their votes on company issues, such as electing a new board member, and allow the company’s directors to present the latest information on the company’s performance and strategy.

In recent years, AGMs have lost their sense of purpose, with annual reports published online, and shareholders no longer required to be physically present to vote on important resolutions.

However, for some investors AGMs have become firmly established as a platform to bring key sustainable issues to the attention of boards and the public.

This month, EQ Investors (EQ) teamed up with the organisation ShareAction, to attend in-person AGMs of companies listed in the UK. ShareAction are a campaigning charity that works with institutional investors, policy-makers and civil society to press for change on key social and environmental issues at financial institutions and the world’s biggest companies.

I travelled to Yorkshire to attend the AGM of the chemicals company Croda to ask a question on climate action. While all of its competitors have already committed to obtain 100% of electricity from renewable sources, Croda did not include this in its climate plans. I challenged the board, and the Chair assured me that this will be looked at within the next few months.

 

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Damien Lardoux, Head of Impact Investing at EQ attended two recent AGMs in London. The first was at Standard Chartered, the UK-listed bank which provided over half a billion dollars in financing to oil & gas companies in 2022. Damien urged the bank to publish concrete plans to restrict this going forward, to align with global climate commitments.

The other AGM was Domino’s Pizza. At EQ we have been engaging on nutrition since 2019 with a coalition of investors, and this AGM brought another opportunity. Damien asked Domino’s to improve its nutritional reporting practices and work towards healthier sales targets.

Is AGM activism for you?

Our presence at those AGMs showed everyone in the room – that there are people who are closely scrutinising the actions of big corporations and who will keep up the pressure for as long as is needed.

We now look forward to developing these conversations with the companies, alongside ShareAction and other investors. If you’d like to learn more about our process or how to get involved yourselves, please get in touch.

Louisiana Salge

Louisiana Salge


Head of Sustainability

Louisiana joined EQ in October 2018 after completing a masters in sustainable business at Imperial College London. She is now responsible for innovating EQ’s approach to sustainable investing. Louisiana oversees EQ’s ESG and impact integration strategy across all assets, EQ’s stewardship efforts and sustainability data reporting. Previously, Louisiana graduated from UCL with a BSc in Geography and spent a year working for a Cleantech innovation research company before starting her masters. She now also holds the CFA IMC and CFA ESG Investing qualification. Outside of her career, Louisiana loves travelling and discovering new places, cooking with friends and spending time outdoors.

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