AXA Investment Managers has announced updates to its corporate governance & voting policy ahead of the new 2024 voting season.

AXA IM says the following changes will be applied within their voting policy:

Climate lobbying: A dissenting vote against relevant resolutions may be cast at the highest emitting companies that fail to appropriately report on their climate lobbying activities. This highlights the importance of climate lobbying issues as the political backlash on climate-regulated regulation intensifies.

Pay fairness: As inequalities can have unintended consequences for society, create instability and reduce economic growth, AXA IM advocates for fairer compensation structures.

Virtual AGMs: AXA IM will seek to oppose bylaw amendments introducing virtual-only AGM formats (except in emergency situations) to ensure that all shareholders are able to effectively participate and engage with the Board of Directors. Moreover, to provide the highest level of transparency to all its stakeholders, AXA IM will start disclosing the rationale for all votes against ESG-related shareholder proposals.

Clemence Humeau, Head of Sustainability Coordination & Governance at AXA IM, said, “As part of our responsible investor commitments, we remain committed to regularly evolving our practices and policies over time and we acknowledge the need for real economy policies to further support the transition to a net-zero world. During this 2024 voting season, with governments and political action at the forefront of the energy transition, climate lobbying of investee companies in high-impact sectors will notably be a reinforced area of focus to ensure consistency between publicly stated goals and corporate lobbying.”

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