Reports and policies

We regularly disclose our stewardship activities and provide our perspectives on governance topics so that our investors, portfolio companies, policymakers, and other interested stakeholders understand our principles and approach.

Reports

29 February 2024

Investment Stewardship 2023 Annual Report

This report outlines our global voting and engagement efforts for the 12 months ended December 31, 2023.

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19 February 2024

Quarterly Key Votes Report (October 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023)

The entries on this table are a representative sample of the types of proposals the Investment Stewardship team evaluated during the fourth quarter of 2023.

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19 February 2024

Quarterly Engagement Report (October 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023)

The entries on this table represent the companies that Vanguard's Investment Stewardship team engaged with during the fourth quarter of 2023.

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14 November 2023

Quarterly Key Votes Report (July 1, 2023 - September 30, 2023)

The entries on this table are a representative sample of the types of proposals the Investment Stewardship team evaluated during the third quarter of 2023.

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14 November 2023

Quarterly Engagement Report (July 1, 2023 - September 30, 2023)

The entries on this table represent the companies that Vanguard's Investment Stewardship team engaged with during the third quarter of 2023.

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29 August 2023

2023 U.K. Regional Brief

A look at our investment stewardship efforts in the U.K. for the 2023 proxy year and corporate governance trends seen across U.K. companies.

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29 August 2023

2023 Europe Regional Brief

A look at our investment stewardship efforts in Europe for the 2023 proxy year and corporate governance trends seen across European companies.

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29 August 2023

2023 U.S. Regional Brief

A look at our investment stewardship efforts in the U.S. for the 2023 proxy year and corporate governance trends seen across U.S. companies.

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29 August 2023

2023 Australia Regional Brief

A look at our investment stewardship efforts in Australia for the 2023 proxy year and corporate governance trends seen across Australian companies.

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15 November 2023

Quarterly Engagement Report (July 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023)

The entries on this table represent the companies that Vanguard’s Investment Stewardship team engaged with during the third quarter of 2023.

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15 November 2023

Quarterly Key Votes Report (July 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023)

The entries on this table are a representative sample of the types of proposals the Investment Stewardship team evaluated during the third quarter of 2023.

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13 June 2023

Quarterly Engagement Report (1st January – 31st March 2023)

The entries on this table represent the companies that Vanguard’s Investment Stewardship team engaged with during the first quarter of 2023.

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13 June 2023

Quarterly Key Votes Report (1st January 2023 – 31st March 2023)

The entries on this table are a representative sample of the types of proposals the Investment Stewardship team evaluated during the first quarter of 2023.

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13 June 2023

2022 Key Votes

The entries on this table are a representative sample of the types of proposals the Investment Stewardship team evaluated in 2022.

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February 2023

Vanguard’s approach to climate risk governance

This piece outlines what Vanguard-advised funds look for with respect to governance of material climate risks.

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November 2021

Global Investment Stewardship principles

Vanguard believes there are fundamental, universal corporate governance principles with which all companies should align. This document describes our four principles of good governance.

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Engaging with Vanguard: A guide for company boards and management teams

During the last proxy season, Vanguard's Investment Stewardship team voted at more than 18,000 company meetings. Here is a quick guide on how to set up an engagement with our team.

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Vanguard's Engagement Policy

This policy generally describes how Vanguard's Investment Stewardship team engages with issuers with respect to proxy voting and governance across the globe.

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Global proxy voting policy

19 January 2024

The Global Proxy Voting Policy describes the funds' general positions on matters that may be subject to a vote by portfolio company shareholders. This policy guides the funds' proxy voting at the shareholder meetings of companies around the globe according to the funds' four pillars of corporate governance and serves as the foundation of the funds' regional proxy voting policies.

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Regional proxy voting policies

19 January 2024

Proxy voting policy for European and UK portfolio companies

This is the general proxy voting policy that applies to all companies domiciled in Europe, followed by country specific policies for the U.K., Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Nordic markets. The effective date of the policy is February 1, 2024. 

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23 January 2024

Proxy voting policy for Japanese portfolio companies

This is the general proxy voting policy that applies to all companies domiciled in Japan. The effective date of the policy is February 1, 2024. Download the Japanese language version.

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23 January 2024

Proxy voting policy for Mexican portfolio companies

This is the general proxy voting policy that applies to all companies domiciled in Mexico. The effective date of the policy is February 1, 2024. Download the Spanish language version.

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23 January 2024

Proxy voting policy for Brazilian portfolio companies

This is the general proxy voting policy that applies to all companies domiciled in Brazil. The effective date of the policy is February 1, 2024. Download the Portuguese language version.

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23 January 2024

Proxy voting policy for Canadian portfolio companies

This is the general proxy voting policy that applies to all companies domiciled in Canada. The effective date of the policy is February 1, 2024. Download the French language version.

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19 January 2024

Proxy voting policy for U.S. portfolio companies

This is the general proxy voting policy that applies to all companies domiciled in the United States. The effective date of the policy is February 1, 2024.

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19 September 2023

Proxy voting for Australia and New Zealand portfolio companies

This piece describes the general proxy voting policy that applies to all companies domiciled in Australia and New Zealand. The effective date of the policy is September 1, 2023.

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Policy overview

At Vanguard, our core purpose is "to take a stand for all investors, to treat them fairly and to give them the best chance for investment success". To guide us in this mission, we rely on our core values of integrity, focus and stewardship in every decision we make. Vanguard's ownership structure in the United States means integrity is foundational to our character as an organisation. The Vanguard Group is owned by Vanguard's US-domiciled funds. Those funds, in turn, are owned by their investors. This unique mutual structure aligns our interests with those of our investors and drives the culture, philosophy and policies through the Vanguard organisation worldwide. Our long-term perspective and disciplined approach to investing puts our focus squarely on clients and the sustainable value of their investments. Our stewardship is reflected in a commitment to keep costs low and to protect our clients from undue risk. We believe responsible investment is inherently part of Vanguard's culture and is consistent with our fiduciary duty to manage investments in the best interest of clients.

Vanguard supports responsible investment by:

  • Voting in support of proxy proposals that, in our view, will improve our clients' long-term investing outcomes.
  • Advocating for responsible corporate governance, particularly with the companies in which we invest, as a driver of long-term value creation.
  • Acting on material environmental, social and governance (ESG) opportunities or risks in our investments.

Proxy voting

The most visible sign of Vanguard's engaged ownership is our funds' proxy voting at shareholder meetings. We have an experienced group of analysts on our Investment Stewardship team that evaluates proposals and casts our funds' votes in accordance with our voting guidelines. Our guidelines are designed to promote long-term shareholder value by supporting good corporate governance practices. They frame the analysis of each proxy proposal, providing a basis for decision-making. In evaluating votes, the Investment Stewardship team may consider information from many sources, including company management, shareholder groups and various research and data resources. We periodically review our voting guidelines to consider further developments in governance standards or risks to long-term shareholder value.

Advocating through engagement

Our funds typically hold companies' stock for long periods of time, and in the case of index funds, we are near-permanent investors. We believe good corporate governance is key to helping these companies maximise returns over time, and we view effective management of environmental and social risks as an integrated component of good corporate governance practices. Significant analysis and effort are put into discussions with the directors and managers of the companies in which we invest; the level and frequency of these discussions may be influenced by the material impact to our funds and the contentiousness of the issue. We believe these engagements, more so than voting, provide an opportunity to fully understand issues and target feedback and messaging to companies.

We characterise our approach as "quiet diplomacy focused on results" – providing constructive input that will, in our view, better position companies to deliver sustainable value over the long term for all investors.

We have a well-established process for identifying governance risks in our portfolio companies. Our key areas of focus for engagement include:

  • A well-composed, independent, capable and experienced board.
  • Governance structures that empower shareholders.
  • Sensible remuneration that incentivises long-term performance.
  • The board's oversight of company strategy and material risks

Furthermore, Vanguard promotes good corporate governance and responsible investment through thoughtful participation in industry events and discussions where we can expand our advocacy and enhance our understanding of investment issues. We also engage with index providers to understand the methodology, construction and maintenance of various equity indices. Finally, we actively contribute to the development of regulatory policy with other market stakeholders to raise standards and promote best practices around the globe.