ICCR Issues New Report on Proxy Voting Records and Executive Compensation at Large Asset Managers

New York, NY, December 19, 2025 – This week the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) released a new report analyzing the 2025 proxy voting activity of more than 15 large asset managers. This latest report comes at a time of mounting asset owner scrutiny of how managers are providing oversight for material risks connected to environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related concerns.  

ICCR prepared the report in partnership with Canbury Insights. The report draws on proxy voting disclosures of some of the largest asset managers in the world including BlackRock ($BLK), Vanguard ($VTI) and State Street ($STT). Those disclosures specifically related to developments between July 2024 and June 2025.  

Several key findings in the analysis include:  

• Asset managers’ support for director elections remains strong, with 12 out of the 17 firms examined supporting directors in more than 90% of the cases.  
• On environmental proposals, 9 of the 17 asset managers examined supported fewer than 5% of shareholder proposals raising environmental risks. In contrast, Morgan Stanley ETF Trust supported over 88% of such proposals, and Nuveen supported almost half.  
• Widely divergent approaches to executive compensation across the leading asset managers, with U.S.-based entities largely deferring to management and rarely voting against pay proposals, while European firms have shown more willingness to confront management in such votes.

“A growing number of asset owners on both sides of the Atlantic are reviewing their mandates to ensure that material risks are being appropriately managed by their investment managers,” said Tim Smith, Senior Policy Advisor at ICCR. “Reviewing proxy voting records is an essential part of that exercise.  This report offers these investors an opportunity to compare the large asset managers voting on director elections, compensation and environmental and social proposals on proxy in 2025. We hope it will allow these asset owners a means of having more data-driven conversations with their managers.” 

“Now more than ever, fiduciaries must not abdicate or shy away from voting their proxies according to their understanding of all the risks that companies – and therefore, shareholders – face,” said Katie McCloskey, Vice President of Social Responsibility at Mercy Investment Services. “Climate and social risks remain destabilizing forces to corporate outcomes, whether or not a manager is being pressured to vote a certain way. Unfortunately, it seems this pressure is impacting the world’s largest asset managers.”

“It will come as no surprise to those who following proxy voting closely that Vanguard, State Street, Fidelity and BlackRock are highly deferential to management in their Say on Pay votes,” said Matthew Illian, Director of Responsible Investing at United Church Funds. “This ICCR report demonstrates that some European firms take a very different view and these differences carry significant implications for asset owners and asset managers, given the growing scrutiny on executive compensation design.” 

“Wespath votes the majority of our proxies in house,” said Lucas Schoeppner, Director for Sustainable Investment Strategies at Wespath Benefits and Investments. “Nonetheless, proxy voting policies and voting records are an important part of Wespath’s selection, appointment, and monitoring of the asset managers we partner with. Reports like this one help Wespath understand the alignment between our organization and external investment teams on material issues like systemic risk. We believe a strong shareholder voice is key in ensuring good corporate governance, values alignment, and long-term value creation.”

About the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is a broad coalition of more than 300 institutional investors collectively representing over $4 trillion in invested capital. ICCR members, a cross-section of faith-based investors, asset managers, pension funds, foundations, and other long-term institutional investors, have over 50 years of experience engaging with companies on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) issues that are critical to long-term value creation.  ICCR members engage hundreds of corporations annually in an effort to foster greater corporate accountability. Visit our website www.iccr.org and follow us on LinkedIn, Bsky Social, and Facebook.

CONTACT:
Alex Tucciarone 
Director of Communications
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
atucciarone@iccr.org