For the first year, on 23 September 2015 and by way of e-platform, Etica Sgr voted at the general shareholders’ meeting of Diageo, an English company which deals with the production and sale of alcohol products and other drinks, present in the Investible Universe and in the equity part of the funds of the Responsible Values System as one of the best performers of its sector.
Etica Sgr voted in favour of all items on the agenda, except for the approval of the remuneration report, on which it abstained, and the authorisation to make donations to political parties, on which it voted against.
As regards the remuneration policy, despite positive elements being identified, such as the good level of reporting, the presence of a three year vesting period combined with an additional two year retention period, the presence of clawback clauses and the clear definition of performance targets, Etica Sgr also identified some less positive points, such as the absence of minimum thresholds for short-term bonuses, the lack of indications of some parameters used in the variable remuneration schemes, the absence of ESG criteria and the lack of indication of the ratio existing between the salary of the CEO and the average salary of the employees.
Etica Sgr then expressed a favourable vote to the approval of the financial statements, to the distribution of the dividend and to the election of all proposed directors, assessing positively the curricula of the same, the high percentage of independent directors and the gender diversity.
Etica voted in favour of the appointment of PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP as new statutory auditor.
Finally, Etica Sgr expressed a contrary vote in relation to the authorisation to make donations to political parties, in line with point 1.9 of its Guidelines on Shareholder Engagement.
Finally, a vote was made in favour of the remaining items on the agenda.
Engagement Foreign companies
