Using voting rights
Philips Pensioenfonds can use its voting rights to indirectly influence the quality of governance at the companies in which it invests. In the long term, this can help to increase the value of the investments and/or reduce the risks. Philips Pensioenfonds has a voting policy in place to help it maximise the impact of its voting rights. The premise underlying that policy is that companies can only be run properly if they have transparent management and efficient supervision.
Execution of the voting policy
Just as it has done with its investments, Philips Pensioenfonds has outsourced the job of implementing its voting policy to the pension fund’s asset manager, BlackRock. The asset manager exercises the voting rights of Philips Pensioenfonds at as many shareholder meetings as possible worldwide, based on voting advice from third parties. Given that Philips Pensioenfonds is ultimately responsible for how the asset manager votes, the pension fund periodically reviews that advice for compatibility with its voting policy. Philips Pensioenfonds can also vote directly at meetings if and when it feels that this is necessary. If Philips Pensioenfonds wishes to exercise its right to add items to the agenda for a particular shareholder meeting, it will first consult the company’s board of directors, and will present an explanation during the meeting itself.
In our opinion, our voting policy is compatible with the provisions of the Dutch Corporate Governance Code that apply to the pension fund.
Report on execution of the voting policy
Philips Pensioenfonds publishes a summary on its website about the execution of the voting policy every quarter.
For information about the voting behavior per shareholder meeting per company, click here to view the share investments (in Dutch). Click here to find how each company has voted. More information about the implementation of the voting policy by the asset manager can be found on the BlackRock website. For example, this document contains the principles that are used in this regard.
2024 – Q2
During the first second of 2024, Philips Pension Fund voted at 3894 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was approximately 97.4% of all meetings where voting was possible. Most meetings vote on multiple topics. Of a total number of votes of 45,919, 3,244 votes (i.e. 6.4%) were against recommendations from the board of the company in question. The main items voted against were management remuneration and appointments of certain board members. In many cases, these types of negative votes are the result of suboptimal organization of company management, such as insufficient independence. In addition, these negative votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency about and management of risks related to climate change.
2024 - Q1
During the first quarter of 2024, Philips Pension Fund voted at 777 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was approximately 98.0% of all meetings where voting was possible. Most meetings vote on multiple topics. Of a total number of votes of 7,651, 638 votes (i.e. 8.0%) were against recommendations from the board of the company in question. The main items voted against were management remuneration and appointments of certain board members. In many cases, these types of negative votes are the result of suboptimal organization of company management, such as insufficient independence. In addition, these negative votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency about and management of risks related to climate change.
2023 - Q4
During the fourth quarter of 2023, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 765 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 99.0% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 5,217 votes, 479 votes (9.2%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of a suboptimal structure of company management, such as insufficient independence. But also insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2023 - Q3
During the third quarter of 2023, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 611 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 98.4% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 5,212 votes, 394 votes (7.6%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of a suboptimal structure of company management, such as insufficient independence. But also insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2023 - Q2
During the second quarter of 2023, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 3853 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 94.2% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 46,441 votes, 3352 votes (7.2%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2023 - Q1
During the first quarter of 2023, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 702 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 95.4% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 7,204 votes, 585 votes (8.1%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2022 - Q4
During the fourth quarter of 2022, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 660 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 96.5% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 4,953 votes, 343 votes (6.9%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2022 - Q3
During the third quarter of 2022, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 534 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 98.3% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 4,774 votes, 370 votes (7.8%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2022 - Q2
During the second quarter of 2022, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 3,812 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 95.9% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 45,292 votes, 3,460 votes (7.6%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2022 - Q1
During the first quarter of 2022, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 733 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 94.2% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 7,014 votes, 564 votes (7.9%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2021 - Q4
During the fourth quarter of 2021, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 819 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was about 95.0% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 5,710 votes, 471 votes (8.2%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2021 - Q3
During the third quarter of 2021, Philips Pensioenfonds, through its asset manager, voted at 660 shareholder meetings worldwide. That was about 96.6% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 5,530 votes, 449 votes (8.1%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2021 - Q2
During the second quarter of 2021, Philips Pensioenfonds, through its asset manager, voted at 4,631 shareholder meetings worldwide. That was about 96.1% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 52,934 votes, 4361 votes (8.2%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2021 - Q1
During the first quarter of 2021, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 886 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. That was at 94.5% of all meetings in which voting was possible. At most meetings, votes are cast on several topics. Out of a total number of 7,877 votes, 726 votes (9.2%) were against company management recommendations. The main items voted against were remuneration of management and appointments of certain board members. These kinds of votes are increasingly the result of insufficient transparency and management of risks related to climate change.
2020 - Q4
During the fourt quarter of 2020, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 634 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. Out of a total number of votes of 4,728, there were 361 votes against proposals from the board of the company concerned. The main topics voted against were management remuneration and appointments of certain board members. Most votes were cast in EMEA (Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Africa, including the Netherlands), North and South America, followed by Asia and Australia.
2020 - Q3
During the second quarter of 2020, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 539 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. Out of a total number of votes of 5,785, there were 441 votes against proposals from the board of the company concerned. The main topics voted against were management remuneration and appointments of certain board members. Most votes were cast in EMEA (Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Africa, including the Netherlands), North and South America, followed by Asia and Australia.
2020 - Q2
During the second quarter of 2020, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 4,029 shareholder meetings worldwide through its asset manager. Out of a total number of votes of 50,121, there were 3,660 votes against proposals from the board of the company concerned. The main topics voted against were management remuneration and appointments of certain board members. Most votes were cast in North and South America, EMEA followed by Asia and Australia.
2020 - Q1
During the first quarter of 2020, Philips Pensioenfonds voted at 549 shareholder meetings through its asset manager worldwide. Out of a total number of 6,137 votes, there were 414 votes against proposals from the board of the company concerned. The main items voted against were management rewards and appointments of certain board members. Most votes were cast in EMEA excluding the UK, Asia and Australia, North and South America, followed by the UK.
2019 - Q4
During the fourth quarter of 2019, Philips Pensioenfonds voted via its asset manager worldwide at 586 shareholder meetings. A total of 4,394 votes cast against 245 proposals against the management of the company in question. The most important subjects that were voted against were management rewards and appointments of certain board members. Most votes were cast in Asia and Australia, North and South America, EMEA (not including the UK) followed by the UK.
2019 - Q3
During the third quarter of 2019, Philips Pension Fund voted through its asset manager worldwide at 531 shareholder meetings. Out of a total of 5,176 votes, votes were voted 367 times against proposals from the management of the company concerned. The most important subjects that were voted against were management remuneration and the appointment of certain board members. Most votes were cast in the UK, EMEA (not including the UK), North and South America followed by Asia and Australia.
2019 - Q2
During the second quarter of 2019, the asset manager voted on behalf of Philips Pensioenfonds at 4,443 shareholder meetings worldwide. In total, it voted on 53,479 items, voting against the management of the company in 3.554 instances. The principal topics on which the asset manager voted against management were appointments of board members and executive remuneration. The pension fund’s votes were cast most frequently in North and South America, EMEA (not including the UK), Japan, Asia and Australia (not including Japan), followed by the UK.
2019 - Q1
During the first quarter of 2019, the asset manager voted on behalf of Philips Pensioenfonds at 755 shareholder meetings worldwide. In total, it voted on 8,086 items, voting against the management of the company in 539 instances. The principal topics on which the asset manager voted against management were appointments of board members and executive remuneration. The pension fund’s votes were cast most frequently in EMEA (not including the UK), Japan, North and South America, and Asia and Australia (not including Japan), followed by the UK.
2018 - Q4
During the fourth quarter of 2018, the asset manager voted on behalf of Philips Pensioenfonds at 714 shareholder meetings worldwide. In total, it voted on 5,092 items, voting against the management of the company in 323 instances. The principal topics on which the asset manager voted against management were appointments of board members and executive remuneration. The pension fund’s votes were cast most frequently in the Far East, North and South America, EMEA (not including the UK), the UK, followed by Japan.
2018 - Q3
During the third quarter of 2018, the asset manager voted on behalf of Philips Pensioenfonds at 561 shareholder meetings worldwide. In total, it voted on 5,429 items, voting against the management of the company in 351 instances. The principal topics on which the asset manager voted against management were appointments of board members and executive remuneration. The pension fund’s votes were cast most frequently in North and South America, the UK, EMEA (not including the UK), the Far East, followed by Japan.