A survey conducted over the member investment advisory firms of the Japan Securities Investment Advisers Association (JSIAA) shows that Japanese fund managers are becoming more active in exercising their voting rights.
The survey inquired as to how they exercised voting rights at the annual general meetings held in May and June, and obtained replies from 76 out of 132 members. According to the survey, the cases in which investment advisory firms voted against or abstained on resolution proposals reached 50 percent of all the voting occasions at the general meetings of companies they invest in. It is a considerable increase from last year, which was only 39 percent.
The proposals they voted against or abstained on most was regarding the payment of retirement allowance to executives, with 28%, and stock subscription right issuance relating to anti-takeover measures, with 17%. As for the dividends payments issue which might draw the most attention of investors, many firms replied that they voted for the resolution proposals approving the rights of the board of directors to determine dividends payment only in the cases that the companies remain highly independent from its management.