Roles and Responsibilities
Firm Responsibility: Rondure Global Advisors has a fiduciary duty to vote proxies on behalf of fund shareholders, as described in Rule 206(4)-6 of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. The firm’s mutual fund proxy voting results are filed annually with the SEC via the Form N-PX, after which the information becomes publicly available. Proxy voting practices and results are in scope for potential SEC review. In the spirit of full transparency, we will also be publishing our proxy votes on the web site periodically with document availability.
External tools: Rondure Global Advisors uses Institutional Shareholder Services group of companies (ISS) for data, analytics, and insight to help vote in the interests of our shareholders. ISS is a leading provider of corporate governance and responsible investment solutions, market intelligence, fund services, and events and editorial content for institutional investors and corporations globally.
ISS offers a variety of approaches to help guide in policy voting recommendations. Rondure uses the ISS Sustainability Voting Policy, which is designed for firms like us who have signed the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing (PRI). Core proxy items like board structure and executive compensation or standard proxy items are considered in addition to sustainability issues.
The ISS Sustainability Policy tends to be supportive of shareholder-driven efforts to increase operational transparency.
We believe this external service may provide useful insights and is worth integrating into our proxy voting process. Although we take the recommendations of the ISS Sustainability Voting Policy into account, we do not always vote in accordance with their recommendations if we believe it is not in the best interest of shareholders.
Individual Roles:
- Our operations team is charged with daily tasks related to proxy voting.
- The research team assesses non-routine, complex or controversial issues related to sustainability.
- The Proxy Manager (ISS) compiles votes as well as provides recommendations, research and assistance.
- The firm ensures that proxy vote outcomes are published as available on the website.
Through the proxy voting process, the Rondure investment team seeks to maximize risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders over the long term as responsible stewards of their capital.
Disclosure:
CFA® is a trademark owned by CFA Institute. The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation is issued by the CFA Institute. Candidates must meet one of the following prerequisites: undergraduate degree and four years of professional experience involving investment decision-making, or four years of qualified work experience (full-time, but not necessarily investment related). Candidates are then required to undertake extensive self-duty programs (250 hours of study for each of the three levels) and pass examinations for all three levels.
