Liontrust engagement and voting report 2021 - Flipbook - Page 27
CASE STUDY
London Stock Exchange
Percentage of board members that are women
2021 AGM
50%
SUPPORT Re-election
of Chair NC (44% F)
45%
2019 AGM
40%
SUPPORT Annual
Report
35%
30%
25%
2016 AGM
AGAINST Annual
Report (15% F)
20%
15%
2020 AGM
10%
5%
2018 AGM
2017 AGM
ABSTAIN Annual
Report
AGAINST Annual
Report (9% F)
0%
ABSTAIN Re-election
of Chair NC
-5%
Q1
Q3
2016
Q1
Q3
2017
Q1
Q3
2018
Q1
Q3
2019
Q1
Q3
2020
Q1
2021
Threshold
Where NC = Nomination Committee and F = % Board Members Female
Source: Bloomberg data, Liontrust Voting, 2016 to Q1 2021. AGM: Annual General Meeting
Ethnic Diversity
The Parker Review encourages increased ethnic diversity on boards.
It proposes that each FTSE 100 board has at least one director
from an ethnic minority background by 2021 and for FTSE 250
boards by 2024. Liontrust’s Sustainable Investment team enhanced
its custom policy to withhold support from the re-election of the
Chair of the Nomination Committee for all FTSE 350 companies/
ISEQ20 companies that have no ethnic minority directors on the
board. This is echoed globally in our US and Canada policy for
Russell 3000 and S&P 500 companies.
In 2021, Liontrust’s Sustainable Investment team voted against five
directors at five annual general meetings when a lack of ethnic
diversity made up at least part of the rationale for a vote against
the director. For the rest of our investment teams, this policy will be
applied to FTSE 100 companies in 2022 and will be extended to
FTSE 350 companies by 2024.
Summary of shareholder-filed resolutions relating to Ethnic Diversity
Liontrust voted in favour of:
• Report on Racial Justice at Abbott Laboratories
• Report on Alignment of Racial Justice Goals and Starting Wages
at Walmart
• Liontrust voted against:
• Report on Racial Equity Audit at Citigroup
• Report on Racial Equity Audit at JP Morgan Chase & Co
• Report on Whether Written Policies or Unwritten Norms Reinforce
Racism in Company Culture
Liontrust: Engagement and Voting Report 2021 - 27