Schroders supports workers' rights and digital rights at upcoming AGMs

18/05/2022
employee-laughing

Schroders today announces it is supporting workers’ and digital rights at the upcoming Annual General Meetings of Alphabet, Amazon and Meta.

The pre-declaration of Schroders voting intentions follows prior engagement activity with the companies on these specific themes and this escalation is the next step of our active ownership process.

In total, Schroders is today unveiling its voting intentions for 11 resolutions at the three companies next week. This follows the publication of Schroders Engagement Blueprint which has set new standards on active ownership and targets on engagement.

Schroders’ engagement with Amazon is focused on supporting workers’ rights, one of six priority themes in the Blueprint. Specific engagement areas encompass improving the wages paid to staff and the benefits that they are offered; worker engagement and representation within Amazon; the health and wellbeing of workers and the working conditions within Amazon’s warehouses.

In terms of Meta and Alphabet, Schroders will vote in favour of improving their approach to digital rights – including exploitative content, misinformation and privacy.

Kimberley Lewis, Head of Active Ownership, Schroders, commented:

“At Schroders we approach active ownership differently. We believe it is important to set clear expectations for companies around sustainable business practices and, as a result, we are able to influence corporate behaviour through constructive and committed engagement with the companies and assets we invest in.

“We have selected proposals which are aligned with our Blueprint and where we have an engagement history. Some 11 of these proposals have already been highlighted as ‘ones to watch’ by key external advocacy pressure groups and we will not hesitate in publishing our voting intentions for more resolutions if we believe it is the right thing to do.”  

Kate Rogers, Head of Sustainability, Schroders Wealth Management, commented:

“These issues are growing in importance for our clients who are pressing us to do more to ensure the companies that we invest in are acting responsibly. By voting against the management at Alphabet and Meta we are signalling the importance of big technology companies acting to avoid harm and tackling misinformation on their platforms. At Amazon, we stand with the workers, seeking more disclosure on working conditions and their treatment.

“As active managers the way we use our influence can make a significant difference helping companies to transition to a more sustainable business model and accelerating positive change. This is important for financial returns as companies and countries’ impacts on the planet are increasingly hitting their bottom lines. At Schroders we strongly believe that companies can’t exploit these issues – both workers and digital rights - without recourse through financial cost or reputational risk.”

In February this year, FTSE 350 non-executive directors also attended Schroders’ inaugural Director Dialogue event to discuss some of the most complex sustainability challenges facing business.

Please see below a list of the shareholder proposals for which Schroders is pre-declaring its intention to vote for at Alphabet, Amazon and Meta. Please note that we are still considering other agenda items at these meetings - we are likely to be voting against the boards’ recommendations for other proposals in addition to these shareholder proposals:

2022 Amazon AGM (Workers Rights)

ITEM 9—Shareholder proposal requesting a report on worker health and safety differences

ITEM 13—Shareholder proposal requesting additional reporting on freedom of association

ITEM 16—Shareholder proposal requesting a report on warehouse working conditions

2022 Meta AGM: (Digital Rights)

ITEM 8: Report on Community Standards Enforcement

ITEM 9: Report on User Risk and Advisory Vote on Metaverse Project

ITEM 10: Publish Third Party Human Rights Impact Assessment

ITEM 11: Report on Child Sexual Exploitation Online

ITEM 14: Commission Assessment of Audit and Risk Oversight Committee

2022 Alphabet AGM: (Digital Rights)

ITEM 14: Report on Managing Risks Related to Data Collection, Privacy and Security

ITEM 15: Disclose More Quantitative and Qualitative Information on Algorithmic Systems

ITEM 16: Commission Third Party Assessment of Company's Management of Misinformation and Disinformation Across Platforms

Important Information

The contents of this document may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner without prior permission.

This document is intended to be for information purposes only and it is not intended as promotional material in any respect nor is it to be construed as any solicitation and offering to buy or sell any investment products. The views and opinions contained herein are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily represent views expressed or reflected in other Schroders communications, strategies or funds. The material is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for investment advice or recommendation. Any security(ies) mentioned above is for illustrative purpose only, not a recommendation to invest or divest. Opinions stated are valid as of the date of this document and are subject to change without notice. Information herein and information from third party are believed to be reliable, but Schroder Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited does not warrant its completeness or accuracy.

Investment involves risks. Past performance and any forecasts are not necessarily a guide to future or likely performance. You should remember that the value of investments can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the full amount invested. Derivatives carry a high degree of risk. Exchange rate changes may cause the value of the overseas investments to rise or fall. If investment returns are not denominated in HKD/USD, US/HK dollar-based investors are exposed to exchange rate fluctuations. Please refer to the relevant offering document including the risk factors for further details.

This material has not been reviewed by the SFC. Issued by Schroder Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited.

Follow us
Follow us
Follow us

Contact Us

Level 33, Two Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong

(852) 2521 1633

Online enquiry: Please complete the web form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

Contact us

The investments mentioned in this website may not be suitable to all investors. The information contained in this website is provided for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice. Investors are advised to seek independent advice before making any investment decision.

Investment involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. You should remember that the value of investments can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed. You may not get back the full amount invested. Please refer to the relevant offering document including the risk factors.

This website is intended for Hong Kong residents only. Non-Hong Kong residents are responsible for observing all applicable laws and regulations of their relevant jurisdictions before proceeding to access the information contained herein. Schroder Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited is regulated by the SFC. The website (excluding Schroder Provident Plan related pages) has not been reviewed by the SFC.

The website is issued by Schroder Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited.

Important notice: Schroders does not make unsolicited requests through emails, calls, messages, WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook, Instagram applications. Any contact other than via Schroders’ official channels for personal or financial information is likely to be false and fraudulent. Please stay vigilant and refer to our Fraud Alert Notice for further details. If you have doubts about the person, platforms, websites or institutions that claim to be associated with Schroders, please contact us via (852) 2521 1633 and inform the local police.