BlackRock's Q1 2020 global Investment Stewardship report discloses engagement and voting stats globally and by region, with the US featured in a number of engagement case studies across BlackRock's various investment stewardship priorities. Globally, BlackRock voted against one or more management recommendations at 8% of 18,758 proposals voted. Looking at North America specifically, BlackRock voted on 2,367 proposals at 333 meetings, with 7% of proposals voted against management's recommendations; notably, it voted against management on 13% of management's capitalization-related proposals and 25% of shareholders' corporate governance proposals.
The report includes an insightful discussion about the impact of COVID-19 on BlackRock's engagements, including companies' focus on business continuity, financial resiliency, employee health & safety, and other near-term priorities. Along those lines, BlackRock notes:
We have heard from some companies that certain non-financial reporting projects –like sustainability reporting –have been de-prioritized in the current environment due to COVID-19.We recognize that in the near-term companies may need to reallocate resources to address immediate priorities in these uncertain times. Given our long-term approach to stewardship, we will continue to monitor company disclosures and expect a return to companies focusing on material sustainability management and reporting in due course.
The report also notes the uptick in poison pill adoptions in the US, commenting that BlackRock evaluates these on a case-by-case basis in accordance with its Proxy Voting Guidelines (page 10), but may support pills that are subject to reasonable terms (i.e., trigger threshold and duration) and adequate disclosure (as further detailed on page 11 of the report) provided they are put to a shareholder vote at the next shareholder meeting before the pill expires.
A referenced engagement report identifies the name of each company engaged and engagement topics discussed during the quarter. The Q1 voting history can be accessed by company here.
See these articles from Reuters and Pensions & Investments. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!