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Vanguard proxy voting

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 6:34 pm
by Kriegsspiel
Vanguard Group Inc said on Tuesday it supported environmental and socially focused shareholder resolutions 20% of the time this year, up from 6% in 2020, as climate change and diversity matters drew more focus at corporate annual meetings.
. . .
Vanguard said it supported one [vote at Berkshire Hathaway] calling for the company to review its diversity efforts after "our research found that the company lacked public disclosures about its diversity measures, goals or progress."
. . .
In another high-profile contest, Vanguard said it voted in favor of a proposal for Chevron to cut emissions, saying it allowed for sufficient flexibility in how the company would implement the request and helping the proposal receive majority support.link
For some reason, I was under the impression that Vanguard's policy was to not vote in shareholder meetings. Needless to say, I was disappointed to see that not only do they vote on stuff, but that they're voting on ESG stuff.

Re: Vanguard proxy voting

Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:55 am
by Kbg
Yep, and Blackrock plus others are definitely doing the same. If one is opposed, they need to own their stock directly. Also, If the Dems are able to pass legislation to force ETFs to recognize gains/losses when transacted like mutual funds, then if one is passionate about this, there are some reasonably simple methods and brokerages that will enable you to meet or beat an index.

The cost will be your time and effort to manage your portfolio.

Re: Vanguard proxy voting

Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 1:28 pm
by vnatale
Kbg wrote:
Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:55 am

Yep, and Blackrock plus others are definitely doing the same. If one is opposed, they need to own their stock directly. Also, If the Dems are able to pass legislation to force ETFs to recognize gains/losses when transacted like mutual funds, then if one is passionate about this, there are some reasonably simple methods and brokerages that will enable you to meet or beat an index.

The cost will be your time and effort to manage your portfolio.


I was (good) brainwashed over 20 years (and Harry Browne also subscribes to the belief) that it not likely for an individual investor to equal an index, let alone beat it. Therefore I'm become quite satisfied with index results knowing that I am beating the vast majority of both managed funds and individual investors.

Re: Vanguard proxy voting

Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2021 7:13 pm
by Kriegsspiel
Five investment giants -- BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Lord, Abbett & Co., Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Vanguard Group Inc. -- are working with two minority-owned underwriters, Loop Capital Markets and Siebert Williams Shank & Co., to develop and distribute a questionnaire that governments will be asked to fill out before new bond deals are arranged. It will ask about policing policies, efforts to combat race-based inequality, social services and the demographic breakdown of the government’s workforce, among other things.
link
“These are among the largest municipal bond holders; they are mammoth institutions that can impact pricing levels on municipal bonds and their position is that we need this information,” said Suzanne Shank, chief executive officer of underwriter Siebert Williams Shank. “Issuers want to access the best rates at the best time in the market. If investors are demanding this, we want to make our issuer clients aware that this is something that will be increasingly scrutinized.”
I've been using Vanguard for a long time, and I've never noticed them asking their investors whether we were demanding wokeness or not. Did I miss it, or is this just gaslighting?