Engagement can occur when we meet companies at the time of new issues or at other times. We engage as active owners and incorporate ESG issues into our ownership policies and practices.
We believe it is necessary for companies to appropriately manage relationships with their various stakeholders, including shareholders, lenders, employees, customers and consumers. Companies should also place appropriate emphasis on long-term business sustainability with due consideration for the wider communities within which they operate.
Our basic policy for engagement activities is as follows:
We encourage the companies in which we invest to engage in proactive dialogue with investors. We would like companies to consider our engagement activities with them as being part of such dialogue.
We are able to understand and address solutions for ESG issues through engagement activity with the companies in which we invest.
We share our views concerning ESG issues with the companies in which we invest through our engagement activities.
We encourage companies that are considered to have problems with certain ESG issues to improve their approach through engagement activities.
We are primarily high yield bond and loan investors. When we do own equities, which are typically less than 1% of our assets, we vote as active owners and incorporate ESG factors as part of our investment process. We do not use external service providers for voting. We are willing to disclose voting practices as appropriate.