SWITZERLAND – Proposals to introduce mandatory shareholder voting for pension funds were yesterday overwhelmingly endorsed by the Swiss electorate.
According to preliminary results from Sunday's plebiscite – which also ratified rules banning golden hallos and goodbyes within Swiss companies – nearly 68% of voters were in favour of the initiative.
Not a single Swiss canton rejected the motion, and some regions saw as much as 77% of voters agree with the proposition.
The country's pension fund association ASIP has long resisted any move to introduce mandatory voting for pension funds – the sole institutional investor mentioned as part of the referendum – and raised cost concerns over domestic funds being required to engage with every domestically listed company they hold.
ASIP's Christoph Ryter told IPE last month: "Voting does make sense when voting at larger companies' AGMs – such as with Novartis, UBS and Credit Suisse – but we resist moves for a general, binding vote across all investments."
The country's Budesrat also opposed the motion prior to the vote, saying it "overshoots the target", while the country's parliament had published a counter-proposal that would have incorporated a number of the motion's suggestions, but left voting voluntary.
Dominique Biedermann, director at Ethos, welcomed the vote.
"It is heartening to see that shareholders will in future have rights to decide over the remuneration of directors at Swiss listed companies," he said.
Ethos, previously in favour of the parliament's more "balanced" counter-proposal, said it would nonetheless accept the outcome.
However, it added that it would work to see the "central" clauses of the counter-proposal included in the draft legislation – as it viewed the parliament's proposal as offering "balanced and more effective" means of dealing with corporate governance issues.
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