Brewin Dolphin, a wealth manager, has appointed the corporate governance arm of BMO Global Asset Management to vote shares in a large number of companies it owns.
BMO GAM’s proxy voting service will cover about a quarter of Brewin’s £46.7 billion of assets under management (AUM) held in equities.
Voting is executed through BMO GAM’s ‘reo’ – Responsible Engagement Overlay – business, which provides corporate engagement for third parties.
Reo, which acts for £170 billion of AUM, will engage on environmental, social and governance issues, along with sustainability risks and opportunities related to investments.
Guy Foster, head of research at Brewin Dolphin, said reo had the “expertise and scale to help us drive companies to address the most important issues they face,”.
In 2019, BMO GAM engaged with 765 companies across 44 countries, voting at 11,131 company meetings, according to the firm.
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