Asia Pacific Sustainability

During the quarter there were 342 resolutions from 38 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against nine resolutions.

We abstained from voting on amendments to work systems for independent directors and board meeting procedures at Amoy Diagnostics as the company did not provide sufficient data on the proposed amendments. (two resolutions)

We voted against the appointment of the auditor at Glodon, Unilever Indonesia, Yifeng Pharmacy Chain and Zhejiang Supor as they have been in place for over 10 years and the companies’ have given no information on intended rotation. We believe rotating an auditor on a relatively frequent basis (e.g. every 5-10 years) helps to ensure a fresh pair of eyes are examining the accounts, and follows best practice. (four resolutions)

We voted against a proposal regarding transaction of business at Kasikornbank as the company provided insufficient detail on the proposal and we wish to avoid unfettered discretion. (one resolution)

We voted against the proposed employee stock ownership plan at Midea as we believe non-executive director involvement could lead to conflict of interest and would not be in shareholders' interest. (three resolutions)

We voted against a proposal regarding capital management at Pentamaster as we do not believe shares should be issued without pre-emptive rights. (one resolution)

During the quarter there were 89 resolutions from 20 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against 3 resolutions. 

We voted against excessive executive remuneration at Bank Central Asia. (one resolution)

We voted against an adjustment of the Guarantee for Controlled Subsidiaries Assets Pool Business at Midea as we found the guarantee amount to be excessive and not in shareholders' best interests. (one resolution)

We voted against a Board appointment at Samsung Electronics as we would prefer to see more independent, non-family associated Directors. (one resolution)

During the quarter there were 100 resolutions from 18 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against 24 resolutions. 

We voted against the Board re-election at ResMed as we were not able to vote against individual directors and opted to vote against Mr P Farrell who retired from the company 10 years ago and we believe he should step down from the board. We voted against the company’s executive remuneration, as we believe it to be complex and measured on many adjusted metrics. We also voted against the re-appointment of the auditor as they have been in place for 29 consecutive years. (24 resolutions - the resolutions for this company are duplicated as one vote instruction is for the company’s global meeting and the other is for the company’s domestic meeting) 

We abstained from voting on the approval of a renewed liability insurance for Directors, Supervisors, and Senior Management at Midea Group as we did not have sufficient information on the details of the insurance policy at the time of voting. (one resolution)  

During the quarter there were 200 resolutions from 27 companies to vote on. On behalf of clients, we voted against four resolutions. 

We voted against the election of the Chair of the Nomination Committee at Hangzhou Robam in support of encouraging better gender diversity. At present the company has no female directors, and we believe the Chair of the Nomination Committee has an important role in facilitating a more gender diverse Board of Directors. (one resolution) 

We voted against a related party transaction at Kingmed Diagnostics Group which would transfer 73% ownership of a subsidiary pharmaceutical company to the Deputy General Manager of the listco. We could not find any reasons behind the sale nor the valuation at which the transaction would happen. (one resolution)

We voted against Philippine Seven’s request for management to approve all other business matters before the annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders. We consider ourselves active shareholders and prefer to vote on such matters at the AGM. (one resolution)

We voted against the appointment of the auditor and the company’s ability to set auditor fees at Vitasoy as they have been in place for over 10 years and the company has given no information on intended rotation. We believe rotating an auditor on a relatively frequent basis (e.g. every 5-10 years) helps to ensure a fresh pair of eyes are examining the accounts, and follows best practice. (one resolution)