Library | ESG issues

Shareholders & Voting

Shareholders have the right to vote on corporate decisions, including board appointments, mergers, disclosures, and ESG policies. Active ownership through voting and engagement is a key mechanism for aligning corporate actions with investor interests and long-term value creation.

Refine
Resource type
Sustainable Finance Practices
ESG issues
SDGs
SASB Sustainability Sector
Finance relevance
Asset Class
Location
TAG
74 results
REFINE
SHOW: 16

Outsourcing active ownership in Japan

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
This report summarises private shareholder engagements in Japan by Governance for Owners Japan between 2009 and 2019. Findings show high success rates and positive abnormal returns, with quiet activism proving more effective than public campaigns. Evidence indicates such private engagements support Japan’s governance reforms and long-term shareholder value.
Research
14 July 2021

Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)

Government Sponsored / Multilateral Organisations
Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) is a Japanese policy think tank founded in 2001. RIETI conducts theoretical and empirical economic research, bridges academe and government, and offers evidence-based trade, industry and economic policy recommendations.
Organisation
1 research item

The impact of climate engagement: A field experiment

This report summarises a field experiment testing whether index provider engagement influences corporate climate policy. Among 1,227 firms, 300 received letters urging adoption of science-based targets to remain in climate indices. Treated firms were 33% more likely to commit, showing that credible engagement can shape corporate climate action.
Research
5 December 2024

Exit versus voice

This report summarises research comparing the effectiveness of “exit” strategies, such as divestment and boycotts, with “voice” strategies, such as shareholder engagement, in influencing corporate behaviour. It concludes that when most investors are even slightly socially responsible, engagement leads to socially optimal outcomes, whereas exit rarely does and can reduce welfare.
Research
28 October 2022

Evaluation project on the effects of engagement

Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)
The report by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) evaluates how engagement by external asset managers has affected investee companies from 2017–2022. Using causal inference analysis across over 26,000 engagements, it finds positive links between engagement and improvements in corporate value, governance, decarbonisation, and diversity.
Research
27 June 2024

Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)

Government Sponsored / Multilateral Organisations
Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is an independent administrative institution in Japan. It manages and invests pension reserve funds under Japan’s Employees’ Pension Insurance and National Pension Acts. GPIF seeks long-term, diversified returns while emphasising ESG investment and stewardship in public pension finance.
Organisation
1 research item

Coordinated engagements

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
This report summarises analysis of 31 PRI-coordinated investor engagements on environmental and social issues between 2007 and 2015. It finds that leadership structures, particularly two-tier models with lead and supporting investors, enhance engagement success, improve target company performance, and are associated with higher subsequent fund flows for participating investors.
Research
16 March 2025

Ethical investing disclosure guidance

Financial Markets Authority (FMA)
This report summarises draft guidance from New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority on ethical investment disclosure. It sets expectations under the FMC Act, warns against greenwashing, and outlines principles of clarity, substantiation, consistency, and management of third-party involvement to improve transparency and accuracy for investors.
Research
19 September 2025

Corporate governance and equity prices

Harvard Business School
This report examines the link between shareholder rights and corporate performance in the 1990s. Using a Governance Index across 1,500 firms, it finds that stronger shareholder rights were associated with higher valuations, profits, and growth, while weaker rights correlated with lower performance and abnormal underperformance.
Research
12 September 2001

Presidential address: Sustainable finance and ESG issues: Value versus values

This report examines how investor and manager motivations—driven by either financial value or personal values—shape sustainable finance and ESG practices. It highlights definitional ambiguities, performance debates, and cultural differences, calling for clearer research to distinguish pecuniary risk-return considerations from non-pecuniary preferences in ESG investing.
Research
4 August 2023

Sustainable investing in practice: Objectives, beliefs, and limits to impact

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
This paper surveys 509 equity portfolio managers on their treatment of environmental and social factors. Findings show most prioritise financial returns, with limited willingness to sacrifice performance. ES constraints from mandates, policies, and client values strongly influence decisions. Beliefs and constraints outweigh fund labels in shaping sustainable investing practices.
Research
12 August 2025

The just transition: How two investors are tackling its social implications

Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
This report by PRI outlines how Fonds de Solidarité FTQ and Ircantec integrate just transition principles into investment strategies. It highlights measures to support decarbonisation, quality jobs, community engagement, sustainable real estate, and shareholder dialogue, linking social considerations with environmental goals in advancing a low-carbon economy.
Research
4 March 2020

The end of ESG: Financial management, forthcoming

This report argues that ESG is both essential and ordinary: vital as a driver of long-term value but not unique compared to other intangibles such as culture or innovation. It cautions against over-emphasising ESG metrics, politicisation, and superficial classification, advocating instead a broader focus on overall sustainable value creation.
Research
4 January 2023

ShareAction's point of no return series

ShareAction
The Point of No Returns benchmark series assesses the world’s largest asset managers on responsible investment across climate, biodiversity, social issues, governance, and stewardship. Published by ShareAction, the series provides rankings, sector-wide analysis, and examples of practice to guide improvement and accountability.
Benchmark/series

Externalities and the common owner

This article analyses institutional investors’ incentives to internalise negative externalities across their portfolios. It focuses on climate change, showing how large asset managers influence fossil fuel companies to reduce emissions, disclose risks, and limit lobbying, reframing shareholder primacy by prioritising portfolio-wide welfare over firm-level profit maximisation.
Research
20 November 2021

Companies should maximize shareholder welfare not market value

This report summarises why firms should maximise shareholder welfare rather than market value, noting that investors often have ethical and social preferences beyond profit. It proposes shareholder voting on corporate policy to better align company decisions with investor welfare, particularly where externalities are inseparable from production.
Research
30 September 2017
PREV
1 of 5
NEXT
Join or sign in to use Alma, Altiorem’s AI Agent. While the Altiorem library is free, Alma is exclusive to paying subscribers.