Active ownership

NN Group believes that active ownership contributes to good corporate governance. Over time, it enhances the long-term economic and societal value of the companies we invest in. We apply active ownership in two main ways: through voting at shareholder meetings and engaging with investee companies.

Voting

Voting refers to the exercise of voting rights at shareholder meetings of companies where we own shares. Exercising voting rights is one of the most effective ways for investors to hold company management accountable. Voting topics at shareholder meetings can include the election of board members, remuneration, mergers and acquisitions, and shareholder resolutions. Exercising voting rights is an essential link in the chain of accountability between a company and its shareholders. NN Group exercises this right wherever possible.

Our Voting Policy for Proprietary Assets guides the voting considerations on behalf of NN Group’s proprietary equity portfolio. Our voting policy reflects the principle that company management should base their decisions on the long-term interest of the company and its shareholders while acting responsibly to all stakeholders.

Read more about NN Group's voting records

Engagement

Engagement is an important part of our responsible investment and active ownership activities and our investment process. By engaging with the entities that we invest in, NN Group and its asset managers can better understand the risks and opportunities of each specific investment case. We believe engagement creates beneficial change by encouraging companies to improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and to mitigate their adverse impact on sustainability factors. 

Engage or restrict?

Where possible, we take an engagement-led divestment approach. We restrict companies as a last resort, and only when engagement is either not considered feasible or is unlikely to change a company’s conduct or involvement in specific business activities. Adding a company or product to our exclusion list removes our ability to influence ESG issues.  

Read more about our approach to restrictions

Collaboration in engagement

NN Group collaborates with other investors through initiatives on focus areas such as climate, the oil and gas sector, and living wage. This enables us to achieve maximum investor influence and to pool our resources and expertise. Together, we engage with policymakers, legislators and regulators to work on the development of sustainable government policies and financial systems. The Dutch Climate Coalition (DCC) and Platform Living Wages Financials (PLWF) are two examples of these collaborations.

As an asset owner we are required to comply with the national laws implementing the revised EU Shareholder Rights Directive. This means that, in addition to our voting and engagement policies, we disclose specific information included in the asset management agreements for the proprietary equity portfolio. This information can be found in our document Arrangements with asset manager.