Lincs picks Manifest proxy voting system
Lincolnshire County Council has revamped its corporate governance
voting strategy to widen its reach into the FTSE index.
The council has appointed Manifest, which operates computerised
proxy voting.
Lincolnshire previously used the National Association of Pension Funds
(NAPF) for its research and voting, but selected Manifest after the NAPF
contract expired in April.
Lincolnshire's appointment follows West Midlands' recent decision to
outsource its proxy voting service to Pensions Investment Research Consultants.
Both are moves that reflect the leading role played by local authorities in
corporate governance.
David Forbes, assistant chief finance officer at Lincolnshire, said:
"We wanted to expand our service in terms of our range of stocks. We aim to
expand. Before, we only covered the top two or three hundred stocks, but now
we're more comprehensive.
"As a county council we wish to ensure that we exercise our voting
tights responsibly and in accordance with an informed voting strategy.
Manifest's systems give us the tools to ensure we maximise the
considered and informed use of our voting rights."
Sarah Wilson, managing director of Manifest, said the company's
system had been developed over four years.
She added: "Recent government papers have expressed a strong desire for
institutions to exercise their shareholder rights on an informed basis.
Manifest is working alongside a number of key institutions to meet these
challenges."
Manifest has also won an online voting contract from Clerical
Medical Investment Group.
The Lancashire appointment comes at a busy time in corporate governance
with firms that have a 31 December year-end holding shareholder annual general
meetings.
According to Manifest, a key issue facing voters has been the
independence of non-executive directors, with boards having to disclose which
members are independent, a requirement of the combined code of the London Stock
Exchange, adopted last year.
Nick Fitzpatrick, Pensions Weekly
17th May 1999
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