“Esgaia makes it easy to share engagement data and follow the progress within a collaboration”
Sustainability is no competition. Collaborative shareholder engagement is an efficient way for investors to address and improve ESG-issues. When institutional investors come together and unify their voices, remarkable outcomes can be reached.
We had the pleasure to talk with one of our users, Fredric Nyström. He is the Head of Responsible Investment at Öhman Fonder, a Swedish fund manager that has been operating in the investment market since 1906.
What is your motivation behind collaborative shareholder engagements?
It’s important to be humble about your influence, especially in companies where you are a minority owner. We are convinced collaboration with other investors makes us stronger and increases our chances to get our voices heard. Collaboration is a well-integrated cornerstone in our strategy on active ownership.
How do you collaborate with other investors?
The most common way for us to collaborate is through investor initiatives such as Climate Action 100+ and Investor alliance on human rights. In initiatives like these, investors come together to target several companies on specific ESG-topics. The responsibilities within an initiative are shared between the investors. We often have a leading role in one or two companies which implies that we are responsible for pursuing the initiative’s
agenda against these companies.
What are the keys to success with collaborative shareholder engagement?
In my opinion, there are three important ingredients to succeed with a collaboration. To start with, it’s essential to have a clear and shared understanding of the issue or issues. Secondly, it’s important to set targets with KPIs. Thirdly, coordination. The more well-coordinated, the greater the success.
How can Esgaia facilitate your collaborations?
Esgaia is the platform where we manage and monitor all of our active ownership activities. Also, it’s possible to invite other investors to engagements we log on the platform. This makes it easy for us and the other investors, to share engagement data and follow the progress.