Voting-related, structural engagement
GOSS research and experience have generally found that 80% of proxy votes do not raise significant concerns and are cast in favour of management. At the remaining 20%, there are concerns that prompt us to engage with the company to ensure that our vote is cast intelligently and that management understands our concerns. These concerns tend to be structural issues, including the quality of disclosure, executive remuneration, board processes, succession planning, corporate social responsibility, and internal controls and risk management.
Event-driven engagement
GOSS’s regional experts are well positioned to learn of critical events that may warrant immediate engagement with companies. We work with clients to ensure timely and meaningful response to company-specific crises, market developments, regulatory developments and global events.
Portfolio-driven engagement
GOSS builds engagement programs to reflect clients’ particular portfolio tilt. For instance, clients with socially responsible exclusion policies may want to engage with companies that are under consideration for exclusion.
Strategic engagement
GOSS undertakes more intensive and longer term engagements on a subset of a client’s portfolio. Engagements may focus on the strategic and value-orientated aspects of how a company is run or structural and policy issues.