European asset manager Amundi has published the latest edition of its Engagement Report, showing its progress on stewardship activities in 2024.
The asset manager said stewardship is central to its responsible investment philosophy and is carried out both through pro-active engagement with companies and through a consistent & transparent exercise of its voting rights.
The company said: “This consistent approach has garnered recognition from external stakeholders, positioning Amundi as a leader in stewardship among the largest asset managers globally, as evidenced by its ranking in ShareAction’s Voting Matters reports through the years. Such recognition underscores Amundi’s dedication to maintaining high standards in stewardship, reinforcing our role as a leader in sustainable investment practices.
“At Amundi, engagement aims at encouraging the activities or behaviour of investee companies to preserve long term economic capital as part of the search to create long-term value for clients’ portfolios. It is therefore result-driven and integrated in the global ESG process.”
Amundi has set itself concrete objectives in that field, notably the aim to engage with 1,000 additional companies on their climate strategy compared to 2021. This objective has been exceeded one year in advance.
Highlights of Amundi’s engagement activity in 2024:
• 2,883 unique issuers engaged in 2024 (+10% versus 2023)
• Engagement has been very dynamic on all key themes including:
– 1,691 issuers engaged on Transition towards a low-carbon economy (+15%)
– 759 issuers engaged on Natural Capital Preservation (+23% vs 2023)
– 1,535 issuers engaged on Governance for Sustainable Development (stable versus 2023)
• The number of issuers engaged has increased across all geographies, notably in Developed Asia (+40%), Emerging Markets (+10%) and North America (+28%)
• 45% of closed engagements in 2024 had a positive outcome. (According to Amundi’s internal system of milestones to monitor engagement progress, the outcome is considered positive when the issuer has largely achieved their KPIs or is on track to do so in a timely manner.)
2024 voting statistics:
Amundi participated in 10,515 Annual General Meetings
Amundi voted in favour of
82% of climate-related shareholders’ resolutions
81% of social related shareholders’ resolutions topics
Amundi’s opposition rate was 26%
Jean-Jacques Barberis, Head of Institutional and Corporate Clients Division & ESG at Amundi, commented: “In 2024, we increased our efforts in all geographies and across a variety of key macro themes. Specifically on climate, our aim is to engage with high-impact sectors first, then to increase our engagement with all sectors over time, since no business model is immune to climate issues. In 2025, we will continue to engage issuers on how they manage specific sustainability risks and their impact on sustainability factors. We consider this to be pivotal in fostering long-term economic capital as part of our search to create value for our clients’ portfolios.”
Main image: lesia-and-serhii-artymovych-y7Z0wRKoMys-unsplash
