As an active investor with a strong concern for corporate responsibility, we support communication with company management about organizational practices we would like improved. We engage in active, ongoing dialogue with Fund shareholders to ensure that the views we express to corporations reflect our opinion and theirs as well. 

We continue to withhold votes from all Board nominees for corporate boards that have fewer than two female directors. All male boards and boards with only one woman conflict with our views on adequate women/minority representation on corporate boards. Based on our beliefs and client feedback, our current proxy voting plans are included below.

We support:

• Corporate boards that include adequate representation for independent, women, and minority directors; we will withhold votes from all corporate board nominees that result in fewer than two women directors.
• Corporate disclosure, reporting, and transparency resolutions, especially in regard to disclosure of climate risk and gender pay gap.
• “Say on pay” and similar efforts to give a company’s owners a voice in management compensation.
• Company benefits and/or compensation plans for all regardless of gender, race, age, or sexual orientation.
• Policies that promote the voting power of the share classes offered to the public.
• Companies that recognize the carbon intensity of their businesses.
• Safe working conditions for all of a company’s workers, and contractors regardless of global location.