Nordea's funds exist to create value for our shareholders. As the Nordic region's largest fund manager, we also accumulate enormous ownership power, where we are responsible for acting in the best interest of our unit holders. This is where our Corporate Governance team comes into play.
- Corporate governance means analysing our investments, creating and sharing best practices, and influencing the companies we invest in to help steer them toward what we believe will create the most value for the unit holders in our funds, says Richard Torgerson, Corporate Governance Specialist at Nordea Funds.
The team works closely with our responsible investment team (RI team) and the investment organisations in the Nordics and Luxembourg, as well as external portfolio managers.
- The RI team works with engagement based on the management of our funds, and we in the Corporate Governance team based on the ownership role, says Richard Torgerson.
Richard Torgerson
Corporate Governance Specialist i Nordea Funds
All decisions are our own
Spring is the time of the general meetings, and a busy time begins for the team. Because even if the team takes in recommendations based on Nordea's principles and instructions, no single decision is automated. The Corporate Governance team always makes its own decisions based on recommendations from the RI team or suppliers – or based on its own decisions.
- We take note of all the background material for the recommendations, ask questions, and make our own independent decision. The bigger the owner we are, the more decisive our decision is, and the more power is put into it, says Richard Torgerson.
Nordea's voting portal is updated continuously, and you can now follow how we vote on various issues at fund level instead of, as before, only at an aggregated level. You can search for a specific company or a specific fund or see statistics at an overall level for how we vote in different sectors and different regions.
Dialogue and engagement take place before AGM:s
The team’s engagement work mainly takes place in dialogue with the companies long before the general meetings. This has proven to be a successful path which also means that Nordea does not have to stand on the barricades to exert influence on how a company is governed.
In addition to working with corporate governance, the Corporate Governance team also takes on the responsibility that Nordea joins the nomination committees of the companies when offered. The nomination committee submits proposals to the general meeting regarding, among other things, remuneration levels for management, the board and auditors, the composition of the board, as well as the position of chairman.
- Our policy is to accept the offers to join election committees that we receive. It usually involves 40–50 election committees per year, says Richard Torgerson.
