Editor’s Note:
John Galloway is Global Head of Investment Stewardship at
Vanguard, Inc. This post is based on a Vanguard Investment
Stewardship memorandum. |
VALLEY FORGE, PA (April 24, 2025)—Vanguard today unveiled research
outlining investor perspectives on proxy voting. The results highlight
investors’ strong desire to participate in a proxy voting choice
program, which allows index fund investors to select a policy that
will direct how their proportionate shares vote on proxy ballots for
companies held in their funds.
“At Vanguard, we believe long-term shareholders – including index fund
investors – play a critical role in a healthy corporate governance
ecosystem,” said John Galloway, Global Head of Investment Stewardship
at Vanguard. “Our research reinforces that investors are keen to make
their voices heard, and are looking for asset managers that will
empower them to engage in the proxy voting process. Our Investor
Choice program democratizes access to proxy voting, providing
investors in index funds the ability to direct how shares associated
with their financial interests are voted as they pursue their
long-term financial goals.”
Proxy Voting Matters
Proxy voting is central to effective corporate governance, and a
fundamental right of ownership. Whether voted by investors who
directly own shares in a company, or by an investment manager who
invests in the company on behalf of others, proxy votes allow
shareholders to support governance standards in the manner they
believe will protect and maximize shareholder returns.
Investors Want a Voice
As individual investors learn about proxy voting, they express more
interest in engaging in a proxy voting choice program:
Voting Choice May Influence Product & Firm Selection
Beyond the strong interest in participating in proxy voting choice
programs, more than half of investors (58%) also noted that they would
be more likely to invest in a fund that offers the ability to
influence its proxy voting decisions, and 86% of investors might
consider switching investment firms altogether for the ability to
influence proxy voting.
Proxy Voting Literacy
Despite the importance of proxy voting, the critical role it plays in
corporate governance, and the transparency regarding their voting
record that asset managers deliver via regular disclosure, many
investors aren’t aware of the process. In fact, less than half of
investors (47%) know that investment managers cast proxy votes on
behalf of their investment funds – and younger investors (44 or
younger) report even less awareness, with only one third (36%)
familiar with proxy voting.
Vanguard Investor Choice
Vanguard Investor Choice, which launched in
early 2023, empowers nearly four million individual
investors, their advisors, and retirement plan sponsors to make their
voices heard on important shareholder matters at portfolio companies
held in participating Vanguard funds. Investors can make a selection
from a range of proxy voting policy options that determine how their
proportionate fund ownership is voted at shareholder meetings. As
Vanguard continues to scale Investor Choice to more funds, individual
Vanguard investors holding a fund directly through Vanguard are
invited to select
a proxy voting policy here.
Survey Methodology
The study was conducted February 28 – March 2, 2025, by Ipsos using
its large-scale, nationwide, online research panel, KnowledgePanel,
among a weighted national sample of 1,347 adults 18 or older living in
all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, of which 1010
self-identified as investors. The margin of sampling error for the
full sample is ±2.9 percentage points including a design effect of
1.16.
The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by
age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status,
and household income using demographic benchmarks from the 2024 March
Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS). Benchmarks for the
investors subgroup were obtained by using the weighted percent of the
general population. “Investors” were defined as respondents who
indicated they have any of the following types of accounts/funds in
the survey: retirement funds (e.g., 401k, IRA, Roth IRA), high-yield
savings account, certificate of deposit (CD) account, and/or money
market account, a brokerage account (e.g., where you choose which
stocks, bonds, and mutual funds you invest in), a managed investment
account (e.g., an account where a financial advisor manages and
chooses investments for you), a managed investment account (e.g., an
account where a financial advisor manages and chooses investments for
you).
Harvard Law School Forum on
Corporate Governance
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