Mutual funds better voting share, avoid taking companies head-on

The percentage of 'against' votes has risen to 4.23 per cent in calendar year 2019, the highest in the past five years

Mutual funds (MFs) may still be hesitant to take on India Inc head-on but their share of votes against shareholder resolutions has seen an uptick in the last calendar year.

The percentage of ‘against’ votes rose to 4.23 per cent in 2019, the highest in the past five years for which data was analysed. It was 3.4 per cent in 2018. In developed markets, institutional investors typically vote against 5-10 per cent of shareholder resolutions floated by companies.

Only 3.3 per cent of the votes of the top 10 fund houses, however, were cast against managements. Six of these — Aditya Birla