Stewardship

Overview Responsible Investing Engagement Proxy Voting Results Reports & Policies Memberships Our Insights & Opinions

OVERVIEW

Sustainability Strategy

At Platinum, we have a core belief that if we responsibly and successfully look after our clients’ money, our business should prosper. This belief has led Platinum to maintain a deep and persistent commitment to responsible and sustainable business practices, including strong governance plus environmental and social awareness. We seek to apply a pragmatic approach to both how we run our business, and the expectations that we place on the companies in which we invest.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

The role of ESG at Platinum

As a signatory of the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing (UN PRI), Platinum has selected the following four UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined below as pillars of both our corporate sustainability and our portfolio company investment stewardship focus.

We continue to work towards increasing the alignment of our investment stewardship strategy with our corporate sustainability work.

Platinum’s Approach

Companies are facing a range of issues from an environmental, societal and governance perspective as the regulation and policy settings surrounding these issues continue to evolve. Platinum’s approach from an investing perspective is a continual work-in-progress as we seek to refine and balance our investment approach to these issues with our core philosophy of seeking good medium to long term returns for our clients. Platinum is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and thereby has made the commitment that “as an institutional investor, we have a duty to act in the best long-term interests of our beneficiaries. In this fiduciary role, we believe that environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues can affect the performance of investment portfolios.”¹

¹as per the UN PRI Signatory Commitment Statement.

PLATINUM'S APPROACH

Responsible Investing

At Platinum our central endeavour is to generate good absolute returns for investors over the long term by investing in companies that we believe are undervalued. Analysis of ESG issues may be taken into account as part of our fundamental investment research process to the extent that such issues impact our view of a company’s inherent value. Consideration of such ESG issues provides us with an expanded information set by which we assess the risks and opportunities facing companies.

Engagement

Platinum has a targeted ESG engagement strategy that focuses engagement with companies on financially material ESG issues¹ as well as ESG issues that are aligned with the Sustainable Development Pillars of our corporate strategy: SGD5 Gender Equality, SDG8 Decent Work & Economic Growth, SDG13 Climate Action, and SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The engagement strategy has been developed for a “priority list” of companies representing ~50% of our funds under management² with the aim of contributing to demonstrable ESG outcomes. These activities and potential outcomes are recorded and tracked via our proprietary engagement template.

Footnotes
¹As guided by the by the SASB materiality map
²As of 30 June 2023

Proxy Voting Results

Proxy voting is a key stewardship tool available to fund managers. As per our Proxy Voting Policy, Platinum views it as an important responsibility we carry out on behalf of and in the best interests of our clients.

The following charts provide a summary of Platinum’s proxy voting activity for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.

The categories most voted on include board related matters, audit/financials, compensation, capital management, and changes to company statutes.

To reference the charts:

‘Take No Action’ refers to a deliberate decision by Platinum not to vote.

‘1 year’ refers to proposals to extend term lengths or establish term limits for Board of Directors where shareholders had to choose the voting instructions as ‘1 year’, ‘2 years’, ‘3 years’ rather than ‘For’ or ‘Against’.

‘Unvoted” includes where Platinum did not vote due to not meeting the deadline for voting.

‘N/A’ refers to proposals which Platinum was not allowed to vote on.

This information is sourced from our proxy advisor, Glass Lewis’ Viewpoint platform.

To ensure transparency of our voting activity, a detailed breakdown of our proxy votes conducted during the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 can be found here.

Management Proposals – Votes Cast

Shareholder Proposals – Votes Cast

Management Proposals – Votes versus Management

Shareholder Proposals – Votes versus Management

SUSTAINABILITY

Reports & Policies

30 Aug 2024	Sustainability and Stewardship Report
12 Jul 2024	Proxy Voting Policy
08 Jul 2024	2024 UN Global Compact Communication on Progress
29 Feb 2024	Human Rights Policy
29 Nov 2023	Japan Stewardship Principles
01 Sep 2023	Responsibility Investing Policy
01 Aug 2023	Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report
30 Jun 2023	Modern Slavery Policy
22 May 2023	WGEA Report

Platinum’s Memberships

UNPRI - We have been a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment since 2021.

TCFD – Platinum is a supporter of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.

UN Global Compact – We began participating in the UN Global Compact in 2023.

RIAA – We became a member of the Responsible Investment Association of Australia in 2023.

IAST-APAC – We became participants in the Investors Against Slavery & Trafficking – APAC alliance in 2024.

Our Insights & Opinions

Julia Bailey, Head of Stewardship provides an insight as to how Platinum approaches ESG on both the corporate side of the business and how we invest our clients’ money.