VALLEY FORGE, PA — Vanguard has announced insights from its Investor Choice proxy voting pilot, revealing significant individual investor engagement in the 2024 proxy season. Launched in early 2023, the pilot allows investors in select Vanguard equity index funds, which collectively hold over $100 billion, to influence proxy voting at shareholder meetings. This initiative provides investors with multiple voting policy options, aligning their investments with personal preferences.
John Galloway, Vanguard’s Global Head of Investment Stewardship, highlighted the initiative’s importance: “We believe Investor Choice is an exciting and impactful way to empower individual investors in specific Vanguard funds to more directly influence how their proxies are voted, improve the corporate governance ecosystem, and reinforce our passive, investor-owned, and time-tested approach that supports millions of investors.”
Approximately 40,000 investors participated in the 2024 pilot. Findings show a strong preference for the Vanguard-Advised Funds Policy (43%), with the Third-party ESG Policy following at 24.4%. Notably, investors in the Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF overwhelmingly supported the ESG policy at 78.2%, illustrating a keen interest in sustainable investment strategies. The pilot underscores a shift toward greater investor involvement in corporate governance, enhancing long-term financial alignment.
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