Several of Canada's largest asset managers voted against more climate-related shareholder resolutions than they supported in 2022, according to a new analysis by Investors for Paris Compliance .
I4PC examined 23 North American climate-related shareholder resolutions from last year. According to its report, Beutel, Goodman & Company had the least climate-friendly voting record. The private Toronto-based investment firm with a reported $42 billion in assets under management was found to have voted against 91 per cent of resolutions included in the study.
Meanwhile, Bâtirente, a smaller Montreal-based group pension fund, voted in favour of 100 per cent of the 23 climate-related shareholder resolutions studied from last year. Vancouver-based Genus Capital Management and Vancity followed, voting in favour on 77 per cent and 62 per cent of climate resolutions, and abstaining on 23 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively.
"When an investor joins CA100+, we expect them to prioritize climate engagement, but this analysis questions some members' commitment," Kyra Bell-Pasht, I4PC's director of research and policy, stated in a news release on Wednesday."Engagement is often held up as the alternative to divestment, but unless investors are willing to vote for climate proposals, engagement is likely to be toothless and ineffective.