How we vote
General meetings are important for positively influencing the companies we own
Första AP-fonden invests a great deal of effort into attending meetings and voting on various issues, both in Sweden and internationally. We aim to vote at all the general meetings of companies in which we have ownership interests.
When it comes to Swedish companies, there is plenty of opportunity for discussions with company Boards prior to general meetings. That is why it is very unusual for institutional owners to need to submit shareholder proposals for general meetings. It is also rare for the Fund to vote against the proposals of the Boards of Swedish companies, as compromises can be reached before the proposal is submitted to the general meeting. In cases where this occur, Första AP-fonden clearly declares our standpoint to the company.
In Sweden, we analyse the proposals for the general meetings ourselves and we aim to attend in person in order to vote at the general meeting; abroad, we use consultants who provide us with analyses based on our own guidelines and take care of most of the practical aspects of voting.
This is how we voted!
We regularly publish information on how we voted at all general meetings in order to increase transparency and also to exert further pressure on the companies that we seek to influence. That information can be viewed here.
Shareholder proposals
In many markets other than Sweden, in particular in the US, shareholder proposals are becoming more common and are sometimes a more effective tool allowing shareholders to influence the company. Första AP-fonden takes a position and votes on all of these proposals. We are seeing a rising trend in the number of shareholder proposals, particularly suggestions related to sustainability. We are generally in favour of proposals that aim to increase transparency or monitoring in respect of sustainability issues. We may also decide to not back a proposal if we assess the company to be addressing the issue adequately and the proposal does not add to the company’s value creation, therefore, or increase our insight into and ability to analyse the company.
We are also seeing an emerging trend where proposals claim to relate to ESG matters but are actually aimed at impairing a company's climate efforts or reporting, for example. Första AP-fonden votes against these types of proposals.