Stewardship & Governance
QMA is focused on promoting ESG principles within the investment industry. We support the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD) and have contractually agreed to adhere to Japan’s Stewardship Code.
QMA is focused on promoting ESG principles within the investment industry. We support the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD) and have contractually agreed to adhere to Japan’s Stewardship Code. QMA is also a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Investor Advisory Group, through which we encourage companies to disclose information on their carbon emissions and other ESG related factors.
QMA's UN PRI Scorecard and Reports
- A+Strategy and Governance
- AListed Equity — Incorporation
- AListed Equity — Active Ownership
Read our full assessment and transparency reports below:
Statement On Responsible Investing
QMA’s goal is to meet client investment objectives by closely managing portfolio exposure to expected return and risk. When determining portfolio holdings, we evaluate the impact of many factors on meeting these objectives, including Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors.
Approach To Active Ownership
As a quantitative investor, QMA believes that strong governance leads to improved management of social and environmental issues, and we take full advantage of exercising our views and monitoring our influence on investee companies.
Acceptance Of Japan's Stewardship Code
Since 2016, QMA has contractually agreed to adhere to Japan’s Stewardship Code and its underlying principles.
Proxy Voting Overview
As a responsible investor and fiduciary, QMA’s policy is to vote proxies in the best long-term economic interests of our clients (the appreciation in value of the investment over time). We have adopted voting guidelines that reflect our general philosophy on corporate governance matters and our approach to other issues that may arise.
Proxy Voting results
| Proposal Category Type | For | Against | Abstain | Take No Action |
Unvoted | Mixed | 1 Year | 2 Years | 3 Years | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 36,707 | 3,693 | 65 | 1,374 | 0 | 0 | 187 | 0 | 0 | 42,026 |
| Audit/Financials | 4,815 | 0 | 0 | 198 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,013 |
| Board Related | 23,508 | 2,301 | 51 | 761 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,621 |
| Capital Management | 1,755 | 164 | 1 | 61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,981 |
| Changes to Company Statutes | 1,141 | 40 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,199 |
| Compensation | 4,614 | 687 | 0 | 219 | 0 | 0 | 187 | 0 | 0 | 5,707 |
| M&A | 180 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 184 |
| Meeting Administration | 300 | 28 | 1 | 95 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 424 |
| Other | 111 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 128 |
| SHP: Compensation | 9 | 42 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 |
| SHP: Environment | 17 | 49 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 |
| SHP: Governance | 180 | 285 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 480 |
| SHP: Misc | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| SHP: Social | 74 | 84 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 159 |
| Proposal Category Type | For | Against | Abstain | Take No Action |
Unvoted | Mixed | 1 Year |
2 Years |
3 Years |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 51,730 | 5,055 | 365 | 2,252 | 0 | 4,107 | 328 | 0 | 0 | 63,837 |
| Audit/Financials | 7,758 | 1 | 0 | 352 | 0 | 568 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,679 |
| Board Related | 31,068 | 3,464 | 228 | 1,201 | 0 | 2,040 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38,001 |
| Capital Management | 3,109 | 324 | 4 | 106 | 0 | 329 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,872 |
| Changes to Company Statutes | 1,678 | 47 | 0 | 77 | 0 | 154 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,956 |
| Compensation | 5,781 | 671 | 0 | 327 | 0 | 440 | 328 | 0 | 0 | 7,547 |
| M&A | 494 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 557 |
| Meeting Administration | 1,180 | 93 | 1 | 135 | 0 | 203 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,612 |
| Other | 347 | 35 | 126 | 40 | 0 | 219 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 767 |
| SHP: Compensation | 26 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| SHP: Environment | 9 | 56 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 |
| SHP: Governance | 206 | 239 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 497 |
| SHP: Social | 73 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 161 |
| SHP: Misc. | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Proposal Category Type | For | Against | Abstain | Take No Action |
Unvoted | Mixed | 1 Year |
2 Years |
3 Years |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 52,132 | 5,074 | 476 | 2,429 | 0 | 5,144 | 254 | 0 | 0 | 65,509 |
| Audit/Financials | 8,148 | 1 | 37 | 384 | 0 | 627 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9,197 |
| Board Related | 31,164 | 3,586 | 300 | 1,286 | 0 | 2,705 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39,041 |
| Capital Management | 3,185 | 330 | 2 | 94 | 0 | 323 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,934 |
| Changes to Company Statutes | 1,577 | 71 | 13 | 43 | 0 | 239 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,943 |
| Compensation | 6,095 | 629 | 13 | 390 | 0 | 446 | 254 | 0 | 0 | 7,827 |
| M&A | 519 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 125 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 670 |
| Meeting Administration | 887 | 59 | 25 | 175 | 0 | 303 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,449 |
| Other | 311 | 19 | 79 | 19 | 0 | 293 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 721 |
| SHP: Compensation | 17 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| SHP: Environment | 18 | 56 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91 |
| SHP: Governance | 176 | 194 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 427 |
| SHP: Social | 33 | 91 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 139 |
| SHP: Misc. | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Key to Table Headings & Examples of Categories
- Take No Action category includes:
- Clients that do not want to vote in certain markets due to confidentiality issues (e.g., not wanting to vote in registration/beneficial owner disclosure markets)
- Client accounts that do not vote in certain markets due to high costs of power of attorney registration
- ‘Share blocking’ markets where we choose not to vote so shares are not ‘tied up’ and prevented from being traded
- Any Russian security that is listed on the OFAC sanctions list
- Mixed category includes situations where there may be multiple client voting policies and voting groups where one policy or group can vote on a proposal in one manner (e.g., “TNA”) while the others may vote in a different manner (e.g., “For”)
- 1, 2 and 3 Years categories pertain to votes on the “Frequency of Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation,” and correspond to the time period that defines the “frequency.”
Examples of Category Types
- Board
- Size, Term Length
- Election of Directors
- Compensation
- Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation
- Advisory Votes on Severance
- Director Fees
- Shareholder Proposals on Environmental Issues
- Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation
- Advisory Votes on Severance
- Director Fees
- Shareholder Proposals on Governance Issues
- Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation
- Advisory Votes on Severance
- Director Fees
- Shareholder Proposals on Social Issues
- Advisory Votes on Executive Compensation
- Advisory Votes on Severance
- Director Fees