Responsible investment sets higher standards for board proposals

One factor that has contributed to increasing shareholder pressure on management is the increased investment awareness in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) matters. These criteria are more and more present in the strategies of the funds, and managers are forced to account for the deployment of this type of policies in their companies.

According to the data of Spainsif (a socially responsible investment platform that groups banks, asset managers and social agents), 45% of the money saved in Spain in funds and pension plans already uses some type of ESG criteria at the time of investing. They are close to 200,000 million euros that not only look at projections of benefits and capital ratios, but also if the company has adopted measures to combat climate change or if it has policies to encourage the arrival of women in management positions.

“The approval of Law 11/2018 on non-financial information is a milestone as it makes issuers to submit to binding shareholder vote the sustainability report. This way, investors can sanction said report in an individual manner, separate from the annual report, ” commented Eduardo Sancho Garcia, Associate, Corporate Governance, Morrow Sodali.

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