Vanguard Gives Investors Option to Avoid Voting for ESG Issues

Investment manager Vanguard announced today the expansion of its Investor Choice proxy voting program enabling investors to vote for policies aligned with their preferences, significantly expanding the number of investors covered by the program, and adding a new option to follow a policy that will not be “influenced by political or social agendas.”

Vanguard launched its Investor Choice pilot in early 2023, offering investors with the ability to select from a range of policy options to meet a series of preferences. The pilot was expanded in 2024 to include five equity index funds comprising more than $100 billion in assets, with the policy options available including the “Company Board-Aligned Policy,” voting in accordance with the recommendations made by the portfolio company’s board of directors; “Third Party ESG Policy,” voting in accordance with the recommendations of Glass Lewis’s thematic ESG Voting Policy,  which follows the view that investment returns can be enhanced through a focus on disclosing and mitigating risks related to ESG issues; “Vanguard-Advised Funds Policy,” administered by Vanguard’s investment stewardship team, and; “Not Voting Policy.”

For the 2025 season, Vanguard said that it will add a “Third Party Wealth-Focused Policy,” which votes in accordance with the recommendations from a proxy advisor Egan-Jones, and “focuses on maximizing shareholder value without being influenced by political or social agendas.”

Vanguard said that the 2025 program will also be expanded to three new funds, growing its availability to nearly four million investors, and almost $250 billion in assets under management. The program will also replace its “Not Voting Policy” with a “Mirror Voting Policy” which votes in the same proportions as the votes cast by other shareholders.

In its report on the choices made by investors in the 2024 program, Vanguard said that more than 24% of investors who participated selected the Third Party ESG Policy.

John Galloway, Global Head of Investment Stewardship at Vanguard, said:

“Guided by our mission and legacy of taking a stand for investors, we are committed to continuing to expand Investor Choice in a thoughtful, straightforward, and efficient way so that more and more investors can make their voices heard.”