Tumelo has partnered with proxy advisers, Glass Lewis, Pensions & Investment Research Consultants Ltd (PIRC), and As You Sow, to launch a stewardship partnership programme.

The partnership is designed to allow investors to choose voting policies to match their values and priorities and have them automatically applied to their votes, with the proxy adviser partners providing advice and recommendations.

Under the partnership, both retail and institutional clients will have access to high quality proxy research to better make decisions at the point of voting, while fund managers will also be able to display their vote intentions to their investors ahead of the vote.

Investors will also be able to vote at scale across their investment holdings on issues, while fund managers can continue to vote on any shares on which their investor clients have chosen not to exercise their own preference.

Commenting on the news, Tumelo co-founder, Will Goodwin, stated: “This partnership allows Tumelo to solve two big problems for our customers. Investors across the network are now provided with the same high-quality advice as fund managers, helping them to make informed decisions.

"We can also now show investors how their fund managers intend to vote in the fund ahead of it happening, allowing for greater transparency.”

Adding to this, PIRC head of stewardship, Tom Powdrill, stated: “All of us at PIRC are very excited to be working with Tumelo on this ground-breaking initiative to empower investors.

"For too long asset owners have been frustrated by their inability to apply their voting policies when they invest through pooled funds.

“We also understand the challenges asset managers face in accommodating increasingly divergent client views. Tumelo has developed a great solution to these problems and we are already talking to a number of clients about how they can use it. This is a real breakthrough for effective stewardship.”

As You Sow CEO, Andrew Behar, also argued that the partnership will support efforts to democratise voting.

“Making proxy voting more democratic will enable every person who is saving for their retirement to send a strong signal to company management and their boards that they want to see accurate disclosure of material information, reduction of risk, and the implementation of policies and practices to achieve a just and liveable planet for themselves and their children," he added.

Share Story: