Making voting count: principal-based voting on shareholder resolutions

in the stewardship toolkit. It helps to communicate shareholders’ views to companies, builds engagement and facilitates two-way accountability. There has been a noticeable increase in support for environmental and social shareholder resolutions over the last few years. However, some investors are reluctant to effectively use this tool, and regard voting in support of shareholder resolutions as an escalation strategy in response to an unsuccessful engagement and/or to express general dissatisfaction with company management. Voting in support of shareholder resolutions – where in line with voting principles .– should be better understood as a widely accessible complement to engagement, and not a form of escalation