Global Voting Policy
ING is a large institutional investor that manages assets for the account of clients worldwide as well as for its own account.
In April 2004, following the best practices set in the Dutch Corporate Governance Code, ING Group published its Global ING Voting Policy. It contains the principles that form the basis of all voting by ING asset management companies.
ING adopted the Voting Policy to monitor and govern the exercise of voting rights for ING’s third-party and proprietary assets worldwide. When managing assets, ING strives to enhance long-term value. To ensure long-term performance, not only financial, economic and corporate governance information but also social, ethical and environmental considerations are relevant factors in determining shareholder value.
The Global Voting Policy makes a clear distinction between proprietary assets and third-party assets. In order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, ING maintains a Chinese Wall between the management of proprietary assets and third-party assets.
Votes on mutual fund assets are cast in line with the fund’s voting policies and in the collective interest of the fund investors. Different ING asset management companies may have their own procedures for voting in accordance with the ING Global Voting Policy. Despite the possible differences, the procedures are always streamlined to serve the interests of the client. During the voting process and without exceptions, all ING asset management companies will take into account the regulations and standards of the countries and sectors in which they operate. ING IM Europe is supported by RiskMetrics, a proven leader in risk management, corporate governance and financial research and analysis, in determining the annual voting activities. RiskMetrics provides ING IM Europe with research on the companies on which ING IM is to cast votes. Furthermore, it manages a substantial part of the administration process surrounding the voting. ING IM Europe’s Proxy Voting Committees assess the advice provided by RiskMetrics and take the ultimate decisions. ING provides frequent updates and detailed information on its voting conduct, including information per ballot.
ING believes that environmental, social and governance criteria should apart from being addressed through the voting activities of ING IM, be also a part of the whole investment process. The ING IM sustainable fund management maintains an open dialogue with stakeholders, such as NGOs, to provide a forum for discussion on environmental, social and governance topics. ESG topics are also discussed during meetings with companies’ management for the sustainable fund portfolios.
For more information on ING’s Global Voting Policy, please visit our corporate website
For an overview of voting activity for Client Assets held in mutual funds and Proprietary Assets, please visit the ING IM website