During the 2024 proxy season, The Shareholder Commons' new proxy voting guide, Portfolios on the Ballot (POTB), flags shareholder initiatives that feature a strong systemic argument. This broad, market-wide perspective distinguishes system stewardship from strategies that focus solely on the enterprise value of the stewarded company.

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For diversified investors, the intrinsic value of the economy is by far the greatest determinant of overall financial returns. These investors need proxy voting information that will help them optimize the returns of their entire portfolios, not just the returns of the individual companies where the votes take place. 

Despite the diversified nature of most investors, the proxy voting advice offered by most market participants assumes that voting recommendations should be designed to optimize the returns at the individual company at which shares are being voted, without separately accounting for systemic or portfolio impact. However, voting choices designed only to maximize returns at individual companies may not adequately address systemic risks that companies create, so advice focused on optimizing individual company returns does not optimize the return of the diversified portfolios of most institutional asset owners. 

POTB 2024 includes dozens of shareholder actions across the spectrum of topics and issue areas from living wage and public health to disinformation and corporate governance. 

Investors are encouraged to use POTB in their voting decisions on the 2024 proxies, attend our webinars, and reach out with questions.