Chapter 1
ESG topics impacting director elections
ESG oversight will be a more important factor this proxy season, with climate risk emerging as the most acute area of focus.
Attention is turning to the board as investors plan to escalate their stewardship related to business-relevant environmental and social matters through votes against the reelection of directors. Nearly three-quarters of investors (73%) told us that ESG oversight will be a more important factor in how they evaluate and vote on directors this proxy season than it was in the 2021 season, with climate risk emerging as the most acute area of focus.
The new universal proxy rules make these developments more potent. Currently, shareholders generally have to choose between supporting the company’s or the activist’s slate; the new rules, which require that proxy cards include both sides’ nominees, will allow shareholders to vote for a mix of candidates from both slates. Investors are focused on increasing director accountability for ESG just as they are getting more flexibility to support the director candidates of their choice in a proxy contest and as ESG becomes a more important part of the activist playbook.
Key board takeaways on ESG topics
- Recognize that investors plan to use more proactive director voting strategies to hold boards accountable on material ESG matters, especially climate risk, and are taking independent, investor-specific approaches
- Consider how the company’s reporting about board skills, training and oversight responsibilities regarding ESG meet investor expectations, and how the company’s disclosures and practices compare with peers and external benchmarks and frameworks such as The Climate Action 100+ Benchmark, TPI assessments, TCFD and SASB
- Refer to investors’ publicly disclosed policies and engagement meetings to better understand their views and how the board’s director votes are trending and why
Chapter 2
Four ways boards can demonstrate oversight of ESG
We asked investors: How can a board effectively show to investors that it is sufficiently engaged on ESG?
With directors under increasing scrutiny for their oversight of environmental and social matters, we asked investors how a board can convey to them that it is sufficiently engaged on ESG. Here are the answers most commonly cited.
Key board takeaways for demonstrating ESG oversight
- Board members who participate in engagement discussions with shareholders should be prepared to discuss the role of material ESG risks and opportunities in the company’s strategy, and whether and how objective, transparent and challenging ESG metrics are used in the pay plan to advance that strategy.
- Consider whether there are opportunities to clarify in the board’s governing documents and committee charters how the board and its committees are overseeing material ESG matters.
- Assess how the board’s competence around material environmental and social matters clearly ties to director skills and ongoing training and is explicitly communicated in the proxy statement through the director biographies and qualifications disclosures, skills matrix and discussion around ongoing board training and education.
Chapter 3
Top investor stewardship priorities for 2022
Human rights and biodiversity stand out this year as topics gaining traction among a broader group of shareholders.
In 2022, investors continue to focus on climate risk, workforce and board diversity and broader human capital management issues. Human rights and biodiversity stand out this year as topics gaining traction among a broader group of shareholders.
While the top areas of investor focus remain the same since last year, the nuances of investor views continue to evolve. This year, investors expressed a growing skepticism of broad pronouncements (particularly related to climate and workforce diversity) that lack specific detail and a deeper focus on how company actions and practices across a multitude of dimensions align with the company’s public commitments and values.
Key board takeaways on investor priorities
- Recognize that business-relevant environmental and social topics continue to dominate investor engagement priorities, which is underpinned by their views that these are among the most pressing risks and opportunities in today’s business environment
- Assess whether the company has a resilient climate transition plan, including short, medium and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets; prepare for questions on how the company is directly and indirectly impacting climate policy, and how capital allocation and incentive structures align to climate goals
- Consider how the company is embedding diversity, equity and inclusion in the company’s human capital management programs and policies, as well as the company’s products, services and business model
- Understand trends in environmental and social shareholder proposals and consider what your company is doing to be ready to respond to requests put forward in majority-supported proposals; consider those proposal trends with the mindset that the company could likely receive a similar proposal in the future
Chapter 4
Five tips from investors for improving shareholder engagement
We asked investors: how can company-shareholder engagement be improved in the current environment?
As company-shareholder engagement continues to evolve, we asked investors how engagement can be improved in the current environment. Many said that engagement is working well as-is and remarked on improvements they’ve seen over the years, including companies becoming more open and responsive and increased director involvement. Following are the most cited tips investors provided about how engagement can be different and better.
Key board takeaways for investor engagement
- Approach engagement as a key information resource for understanding investor perspectives on the company’s strategy, risk management and governance; consider how the tone and substance of engagement conversations are meeting investor expectations for more candor, responsiveness and solution-focused discussion
- Make clear that there is an open line of communication from investors to the board, both through involving board members in engagement conversations as appropriate and also by providing more transparency around how investor feedback to management is reaching the board level
- Encourage management to approach engagement meetings with a stronger view toward efficiency and productivity
Questions for the board to consider
- How is the board proactively challenging and refreshing its composition, oversight structures and practices to adapt to new and evolving risks and opportunities related to material environmental and social matters? Is the board staying nimble and adaptative as the business environment continues to transform?
- How is the company helping to provide solutions that meet changing market needs and stakeholder expectations in the current and future business environment?
- Do the company’s public statements, commitments and values align with its workplace and supply chain policies and practices, capital allocation, political and lobbying spending, and public policy activities? How is the board overseeing, and the company communicating, this alignment?
- Does the current board have the skills and ongoing training needed to position it for oversight of strategy and risk management related to business-relevant ESG risks and opportunities? How do the board’s succession planning and evaluation practices support ESG oversight needs, and do the company’s disclosures effectively communicate the board’s strengths and goals in this area?
- Do the company’s governing documents and disclosures make clear where ESG oversight responsibilities lie at the board and senior management levels and give color to how the board and its committees execute that oversight?
- Are the company’s disclosures fit for purpose given current stewardship priorities, investing trends and related investor data needs? What disclosure controls and procedures underpin nonfinancial disclosures, and how are they assured?
- Is the company approaching investor engagement as a compliance exercise or as a strategic opportunity to understand shareholders’ views of the company and learn about potential emerging risks and opportunities from an external stakeholders’ perspective? How is it enhancing engagement practices to optimize the efficiency and productivity of those interactions?
- How could the board’s role in overseeing and directly participating in investor engagement be enhanced? Are directors able to have substantive discussions about the company’s strategy relative to material ESG factors and how the board’s oversight is conducted? If not, why?
- How is the board learning about shareholder proposals trends and proactively considering how the company is addressing the concerns and requests raised by proposals that are gaining traction in the market?
- How will the company’s next annual general meeting demonstrate management and the board’s receptivity and engagement with investors?
Summary
Director accountability on ESG is increasing. Investors plan to use their votes on director elections to hold boards responsible for oversight of climate risk and other material ESG matters. Investors want to better understand how boards are building the competence needed to oversee ESG, especially in the context of strategy, and how they are executing that oversight. Climate risk and workforce and board diversity remain in the spotlight, with concerns about greenwashing driving further scrutiny of company plans, actions and progress. Investors say their focus on ESG is rooted in their conviction that ESG can materially impact financial performance.