As an owner of thousands of publicly traded companies around the world, UC Investments has the opportunity and responsibility to advance long-term shareholder value - through active ownership. Our active ownership efforts comprise two prongs: proxy voting and shareholder engagement.

Proxy Voting

Sound corporate governance, including governance of material environmental and social issues, is essential to creating long-term value.  As a fiduciary, UC Investments seeks to advance sound corporate governance by exercising our shareholder voting rights. 

We retain a third party proxy advisory and voting service, Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”). While we generally vote in accordance with management’s recommendations on routine business matters, UC Investments’ proxy voting guidelines pay particular attention to risks and opportunities associated with material environmental, social and governance risk factors, consistent with our Sustainable Investing Framework and with the relevant policy of the UC Board of Regents.

UC Investments votes in thousands of annual general meetings globally. Our proxy voting record is available here.

Shareholder Engagement

UC Investments engages in constructive, sustained dialogue with companies to advance sustainable long-term value. Our shareholder engagement strategy is aligned with – and amplifies - our proxy voting.

Consistent with our Sustainable Investing Framework, UC Investments’ shareholder engagement efforts focus on environmental, social and governance factors that pose material financial risks, including for example, how the company manages climate change risk and human capital.

We augment our shareholder engagement efforts by working in collaboration with other investors through the Engagement Overlay Service (EOS) at Federated Hermes. Working through EOS, UC Investments amplifies our voice and influence as a shareholder on issues that are material to long-term performance.

Memberships and Affiliations

We seek to advance best practices in corporate governance through our membership in the Council of Institutional Investors and through our support of the Japan Stewardship Code.

UC Investments is a member of The Thirty Percent Coalition, a collaboration between corporations, investors and advocacy groups, whose mission is to advocate for gender and racial diversity on corporate boards of directors.  In 2019, UC Investments joined Climate Action 100+, an institutional investor initiative calling on companies to identify and address climate risks to their business.