Governance Advisory Service

Whilst the Board believes that Proxy Voting is an extremely important part of Investment Governance, it only goes part of the way.  Many important issues do not get raised at Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and there is a gap in coverage in between reporting seasons (when AGMs are held). 

Bridging the gap

In a bid to bridge that gap, the Board’s investment manager, VFMC, has become a cornerstone investor in Regnan, the provider of the Governance Advisory Service (GAS).

GAS attempts to enhance the long term value of the Fund’s Australian shareholdings by identifying and where possible mitigating risk by engaging with companies on social, environmental and governance issues.

The objective of the GAS

To protect and enhance shareholder value for clients through identification and active communication with relevant stakeholders of social, environmental and corporate governance risks to present and future investments.

Process overview: 

• identify potential environmental, social and corporate governance risks; 
• assess the importance of those risks and prioritise them for consideration, 
• research the exposure of companies to the high priority risks,
• assess the effectiveness of the companies' response to those risks and thereby identify any resulting gaps in companies' response,
• work with the Boards to develop action plans to mitigate the risk gaps,
• implement the action plans on behalf of the Boards, and 
• report back to the Boards on the effectiveness of the implementation.