Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank joins the list of banks and other asset managers that subscribe to Ethos' services in shareholder dialogue as well as in voting at general meetings of Swiss and international companies.
Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB) announced today that it has chosen Ethos to assist it in exercising its shareholder rights, both in voting at general meetings and in conducting shareholder dialogue with the companies in its portfolio. BLKB thus joins the ranks of asset managers and banks that have been using Ethos' engagement services for several years, in addition to the pension funds that participates in Ethos' dialogue programmes.
Active ownership is now an integral part of a credible sustainability strategy. It consists first and foremost of systematically exercising voting rights at general meetings and engaging in an ongoing, constructive dialogue with invested companies on various sustainability-related issues.
"By integrating active ownership into our sustainable investment approach, we want to help secure the long-term financial, environmental and social value of our clients' investments," explains John Häfelfinger, CEO of BLKB. "Active ownership complements the approach that the bank has been pursuing for a decade, namely the systematic consideration of ESG factors in all investments".
“We are very pleased to join forces with BLKB," says Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of Ethos. “Our two institutions share many values and, above all, the same vision of long-term investment. This cooperation will also enable us to increase our influence in promoting good environmental, social and governance practices among listed companies, to the benefit of all members of our shareholder dialogue programmes".
Since 2004, Ethos has been offering engagement services to asset owners such as pension funds and charitable foundations through the Ethos Engagement Pool (EEP) Switzerland, which now has more than 185 members. In 2017, this dialogue was extended to international companies with the launch of the EEP International, which now has 116 members.
In 2022, Ethos extended its engagement services to banks and asset managers. Without being a member of the EEPs, they can thus benefit from Ethos' expertise and from the many possible synergies with the engagement activities carried out by the two dialogue pools.
