How Did You Vote on WHO Compliance, Climate Activism, and Anti-Religious Bias Last Week?
From BlackRock to State Street — does your voting match your values?
Last week, major businesses like Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and State Street put dozens of proposals before their shareholders. If you own those companies through asset managers, you voted on them – but do you know how you voted? Clients using our proxy voting guidelines have peace of mind that their shares are being voted in a way consistent with their worldview. However, if you entrusted votes to an asset manager that isn’t aligned with your worldview, chances are you won’t be happy with the way they voted your shares.
The past week saw a wide range of issues on the ballot — take a look at some of the highlights below.
ConocoPhillips
A proposal asking the company to remove its emission reduction targets. You voted for this proposal. As more and more companies ditch their net-zero commitments, it’s simply due diligence to be doing that analysis — especially for an energy company.
BlackRock
A proposal asking the company to acknowledge the risks of supporting ESG, DEI, and other non-fiduciary activism. This is a proposal which we helped to put forward and I (Jerry) gave the speech in favor of it (Jerry's Speech to BlackRock: Against Stakeholderism | Salem Podcast Network) You voted for this proposal — as we told the board prior to the meeting, the company is perceived as the poster child for corporate bias, and with good reason. Regaining shareholder trust for a brand like BlackRock has to start here.
Morgan Stanley
A proposal pressuring the company to disclose how it finances non-fossil fuel assets, specifically in keeping with activist demands regarding climate change. You voted against this proposal. Using shareholder money to push anti-energy net-zero goals, unsurprisingly, shouldn’t be garnering support from shareholders who invest for return.
There was a proposal which was scheduled to be on the ballot regarding Morgan Stanley and issues having to do with political bias in business practices, but due to the firm changing its written policies on that issue and its willingness to offer a Christian ERG to its employees, we withdrew that proposals.
State Street
A proposal pressuring the company to disclose how it’s actively financing the “energy transition,” another term for anti-energy activism that often parrots climate change talking points. You voted against this proposal — a company’s decisions regarding energy financing should be guided by sound business analysis and not activism.
Yum! Brands
A proposal pressuring the company to comply with WHO guidelines regarding antibiotics. You voted against this proposal — WHO guidelines are incredibly rigid and essentially force the company to override its own due diligence in favor of activist commitments to less antibiotic use (which means less food supply, lessened business impact, and decreased shareholder return).
A proposal we sponsored asking the company to re-evaluate its practice of not allowing faith-based employee resource groups in the workplace. You voted for this proposal. Anti-religious bias in the workplace is a real issue (one currently in the spotlight due to recent executive orders). Yum! Brands’ religious employees deserve to be able to bring their whole selves to work — and shareholders should support efforts to combat bias against them.
If you used our guidelines, you know how you voted for these proposals. If you outsourced your voting power to a manager like BlackRock, however? You voted against efforts to depoliticize company policy, from ditching ESG & DEI activism to restoring respect for religious liberty in the workplace. This is why the alignment that Bowyer Research guidelines create matters: the proxy advisors that control the vast majority of votes at companies like Morgan Stanley & State Street are not interested in getting companies back to politically neutral yet.
We’ll keep at that — and until then, we’ll be keeping you updated on what’s on the ballot at America’s biggest companies. Thanks for allowing us to represent you in this arena.
Jerry Bowyer is President of Bowyer Research.
Isaac Willour is a Corporate Relations Analyst at Bowyer Research.