Proxy voting adds ESG leverage to retirement plans
A new Morningstar report presents proxy voting as a backdoor entry to ESG investing for retirement plan participants. As advocates pressure for simpler proxy voting procedures, retail investors could gain considerable leverage.
May 4, 2021
Increased attention on proxy voting could represent a backdoor into ESG investing for retirement plan participants.
With only 3% of 401(k) plans currently offering investments labeled as adhering to environmental, social and governance causes, most retail investors are unable to establish a footprint in the wildly popular sustainable investing space.
But, as investor advocates and regulators increase pressure for simpler and more transparent proxy voting procedures, it is possible retail investors could gain considerable leverage over the way fund companies currently vote on shareholder proposals.
Will Spending Resume Post COVID? Behavioural economists say that it depends onthe triggering of a number of psychological biases, especially the types of “accounts” in which consumers have allocated their savings
Yan Barcelo 9 April, 2021 | 1:45AM
Consumers worldwide and in Canada are sitting on unprecedented hoards of cash accumulated during the pandemic. According to a CIBC report published in November 2020, Canadian households and businesses were sitting on $170 billion of excess cash, $90 billion of that in consumer accounts, representing 4% of consumer spending.
This is in line with what’s happening elsewhere. Bloomberg Economics reports that globally, consumers saved close to US$3 trillion by the end of February 2021.