Voting policy

UniSuper believe that proxy voting is an important part of the investment decision-making process. Find out about our voting policy.

What are UniSuper's voting guidelines?

We have a significant exposure to listed share investments. Our approach to voting these investments is framed by the ASCI Corporate Governance Guidelines.

Our voting guidelines are described within our Investment Governance Policy, with specific reference to Australian and overseas listed shares.

The Trustee retains ultimate responsibility for voting decisions and has the right to override both the recommendations put forward by its corporate governance specialist and managers' vote.

In those investments where we cannot directly exercise a vote on governance issues, such as pooled investment vehicles or unlisted domestic companies, UniSuper will continue to promote its governance policy and ensure relevant people are fully versed on our governance expectations.

See our Voting Record for information on how we have voted.

Australian listed share investments

The following guiding principles are used in conjunction with other investment decisions to make sure that shareholder value is maintained:

• UniSuper believes that voting forms an important part of the investment decision-making process and requires its investment managers to vote.
• Investment managers are required to vote either 'For' or 'Against' on all resolutions, except where managers have a conflict of interest;
• UniSuper has appointed a proxy voting specialist to provide voting advice to the Fund and its investment managers in respect of resolutions of a corporate governance nature for companies in the S&P/ASX200 Index, based on the ACSI Guidelines;
• Investment managers can vote contrary to advisor recommendations if they have a sound commercial reason for doing so, but are required to report to UniSuper in such instances. Investment managers are required to exercise their own judgement, while taking into account the principles underlying the ACSI policy, in voting on resolutions of an investment nature and on resolutions for companies outside the S&P/ASX200 Index; and
• UniSuper closely monitors investment managers' voting activity and may override both the managers' vote and the advisors' recommendations in instances where this is deemed appropriate.

International listed shares

To ensure we have a system in place with sufficient flexibility to take actions on corporate governance in international shares, we have engaged an international proxy-voting specialist to:

• Consider the ACSI guidelines in forming their voting decisions;
• Vote on UniSuper’s behalf in key markets in the US, UK and Europe; and
• Apply international proxy voting standards agreed with UniSuper, when the ACSI Guidelines do not apply in non-Australian jurisdictions.
• Investments in Pooled Vehicles and Direct Investments in Unlisted Domestic Companies
• UniSuper cannot directly exercise its vote in pooled vehicles, such as indirect property investments, as those vehicles have their own Trustee or Responsible Entity, which is responsible for decisions on behalf of all unit holders collectively.

However, UniSuper promotes its policy either through investment managers responsible for pooled vehicles, or directly in the case of direct investments.