SSGA reports 63% rise in proxy voting adoption

SSGA, the world’s fourth-largest asset manager with approximately US$4.72trn in assets under management (AUM), said investor demand among its US ETF and mutual fund clients increased by 63% in Q1. This suggests that investors are becoming more actively engaged with their investments.

SSGA said investors can choose among 11 non-SSGA voting policies, which are available for more than 80% of the index equity assets eligible for the programme—amounting to around $1.9 trillion in AUM.

These options include policies available through Egan-Jones and Glass Lewis, as well as a Bowyer Research policy designed for SSGA’s clients that are US government entities, the manager said.

Some large institutional investors—who tend to be invested via pooled funds or segregated mandates rather than through ETFs—have, over the past year, expressed concern about the manager’s overall approach to stewardship. This comes as State Street faces increasing pressure in the US to distance itself from climate alliances.

According to ShareAction’s latest Voting Matters report, State Street ranks 63rd out of 70 asset managers, showing very limited support for social and environmental resolutions proposed during the 2024 AGM season. Over the past three years, its backing of ESG resolutions has declined sharply—from 30% in 2021 to just 9% in 2024.

This has prompted some institutional investors to publicly reduce their exposure. In February, just one week after the Voting Matters report was released, UK master trust The People’s Pension announced it was significantly scaling back its investments with State Street—effectively divesting £28 billion. A month later, Danish pension fund Akademiker terminated a DKK3 billion mandate with the manager.

At the same time, demand for proxy voting options continues to grow. In the US, proxy voting participation rose by nearly 30%, according to Broadridge’s latest ProxyPulse™ report.