Ethos expands proxy voting services to Germany via Monega partnership

Ethos Foundation, the Swiss sustainable investment specialist backed by the country’s pension funds, is expanding into Germany through a partnership with Cologne-based asset manager Monega.

Under the agreement, Ethos will provide proxy voting services to Monega and its clients, offering an alternative to US-based providers and aligning with European standards on sustainable corporate governance.

Monega, which manages €10bn in assets, will use Ethos’s services to support the funds it oversees for CSR Beratungsgesellschaft and Steyler Ethik Bank, applying ESG criteria.

Michael Spalding, head of client relations at Ethos, said: “Ethos’s sustainability standards, applied by many pension funds and banks in Switzerland, are sure to attract further interest in Germany and offer an interesting alternative to the already established proxy advisors.”

Ethos will conduct ESG-based analyses of portfolio companies with a view to protecting the long-term interests of shareholders and other stakeholders.

The agreement builds on Monega’s existing partnership with US proxy advisor Glass Lewis, but offers a European perspective that may better reflect regional expectations and regulatory frameworks, the firm said.

US proxy advisers are under attack from Republicans in the House of Representatives, who have launched an antitrust investigation into ISS and Glass Lewis this year. 

“With Ethos, we are creating an even stronger focus on promoting sustainable corporate governance for selected sustainable funds. This also responds to our partners’ interest in consistently considering European sustainability standards,” said Monega managing director Christian Finke.

Borislav Ivanov, partner and senior portfolio manager at CSR, described the move as “an important step towards strengthening the consistent implementation of our sustainability strategy, including at the level of corporate dialogue and voting rights”.

Norbert Clément, CSR’s managing director, added that the firm would promote sustainable governance through its equity investment strategies.

Steyler Ethik Bank, which invests according to Christian values, said the collaboration would support its active ownership approach. It will aim to have a positive impact on companies in its portfolio, said Samuel Drempetic, head of ethics and sustainability at the bank.

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