The Ethos Foundation in Geneva and Proxinvest in Paris have entered in a strategic alliance to pool their proxy voting expertise. With a 20% participation of Ethos in the capital of Proxinvest, the two institutions hope to reinforce their positions as the Swiss and French market leaders in the field of proxy voting advisory services.
Closer collaboration will allow to take advantage of synergy benefits in the development of new products and in information technology and make available increasingly effective customer platforms.
Ethos and Proxinvest provide institutional investors with an array of services enabling the exercise of shareowner rights, in particular to vote at general meetings. The two institutions specialize in agenda analysis, voting recommendations and voting execution. Both are members of the European Corporate Governance Service (ECGS), the largest European network of proxy voting advisors.
For Pierre-Henri Leroy, Chairman of Proxinvest, “Quality analysis and proxy voting services require in-depth knowledge of companies, legislation and best practice. By drawing closer together, Ethos and Proxinvest will be able to expand their services and add to their expertise.” Ethos Executive Director Dominique Biedermann adds, “Investors have understood that it is in their interest to exercise their shareowner rights systematically and in an informed manner. For this, they increasingly turn to independent local specialists for assistance”.
Ethos and Proxinvest also aim to contribute to raising standards in corporate governance and shareholder voting policies, in particular by publishing various studies and bringing together investors. To this effect, Proxinvest will establish a steering committee made up of well-known corporate governance specialists and chaired by Ethos.
Ethos Foundation (Geneva)
Ethos, Swiss Foundation for Sustainable Development, was created in February 1997 by two Geneva-based pension funds and is currently composed of 92 institutional investors. Its purpose is to promote socially responsible investment (SRI) and a stable, prosperous socio-economic environment. Ethos organizes various SRI events and publishes studies in the field of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.
The Ethos Foundation is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment and participates in several international investor groups, in particular the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). In 2009, Ethos received the ICGN Award for its significant contribution to the improvement of corporate governance in its region and in recognition of the “Say on Pay” campaign, whereby a resolution requesting companies to implement an advisory vote on their remuneration report was filed at many Swiss listed companies and received significant support.
The Foundation fully owns the company Ethos Services, which conducts all investment and consulting activities. Ethos Services is specialized in SRI and offers the following services:
- mutual funds and discretionary mandates managed according to an SRI approach in collaboration with several leading asset managers (assets of CHF 2.2 billion under management);
- analyses of shareholder general meetings with voting recommendations and voting assistance (approx. 150 Swiss and 500 European, North American, Asian and Australian companies analysed);
- engagement programme with Swiss listed companies (on behalf of more than 40 Swiss pension funds).
Ethos Services has 14 employees and offices in Geneva and Zurich. It is the Swiss partner in the European Corporate Governance Service (ECGS) network of proxy voting advisors.
Find out more: www.ethosfund.ch
Proxinvest (Paris)
Proxinvest, which was founded in 1995 in Paris by Pierre-Henri Leroy, is the first French advisory company for proxy voting and governance analysis of listed companies. In France, over thirty institutional investors and asset managers with more than 2,000 billion euros of assets under management rely on Proxinvest.
Committed to servicing investors only, Proxinvest provides its clients with voting recommendations for the general meetings of listed companies and customised voting guidelines based on criteria selected by each client. Its services are available via an on-line voting platform that also automatically generates voting forms and summary reports with due regard for the regulatory obligations related to the exercise of voting rights.
Proxinvest provides no ratings at the behest of issuers and no advisory services paid for by issuers. Its investor clients are thus assured of an impartial examination of the issues, an exacting position that allows Proxinvest to play a predominant role in financial governance developments.
Each year, after having consulted with investors in the autumn, Proxinvest updates and distributes its voting recommendations for the following year and presents them on the market. In the past ten years it has had a notable impact on voting results at general meetings and on the conduct of large corporations, in particular in terms of greater personal commitment by directors, more moderate remuneration for corporate management and control of dilution.
Proxinvest has a dozen staff members at its offices in Paris. It is a member of the European Corporate Governance Services (ECGS) and of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN).
Find out more: www.proxinvest.com
