Proxy Voting Services

Our proxy voting services support active owners in exercising their shareholder rights with transparent and comprehensible voting recommendations and detailed corporate governance research. The voting right is one of the most important rights of shareholders to protect their interests.

Inrate’s proxy voting recommendations are based on the long-term interests of the corporation and the interest of (minority) shareholders. We have defined clear principles, and our guidelines are aligned with the most recent best practices and regulations. Based on our Catalogue of Criteria, we assess the Corporate Governance of a Swiss-listed company.

Next, we create a voting recommendation based on our Voting Guideline. Both these documents are publicly available and ensure high quality and comparability between rated companies.

criteria catalogue
  • Basis for assessing the corporate governance of companies (zRating score)
  • Based on analysis of the articles of incorporation and the annual report (among others)
  • zRating identifies potential corporate risks from a corporate governance perspective that may have an impact on the value of the company and therefore have a negative effect on minority shareholders
  • Revised annually
Voting Guidelines
  • Decision-making basis for «acceptance» or «rejection» of AGM agenda items
  • Analysis of the invitation to general meetings
  • Recommendations based on the long-term interests of the corporation and the shareholders
  • Revised annually

We Offer Three Proxy Voting Service Packages

Our Proxy Voting Services can be categorised into the following three service packages:

Standard

Access to platform and voting recommendations

 

 

Pro

Ability to record voting behavior and to create a Proxy Voting Report

 

Voting

Full process (incl. exercising voting rights) delegated to Inrate

To ensure the timely and accurate execution of voting rights, we have strictly defined processes. However, there is always the possibility of vetoing against a recommendation of Inrate and requesting different execution of voting rights. This is done via customer feedback depicted in the picture below:
service package process

Strategic Partnership With Minerva Analytics for Global Proxy Voting

Our Proxy Voting services cover listed companies in Switzerland. However, since 2022 Inrate has had a strategic partnership with Minerva Analytics that enables the application of Inrate’s voting guideline for companies headquartered outside of Switzerland. Thus, we can offer Proxy Voting Services on a global base transparently and consistently.

AGM Results and Voting Recommendations by Inrate

During the Proxy Voting Season 2022, we issued proxy voting recommendations for 208 AGM of companies headquartered in Switzerland (incl. 12 EGM). Of over 4’000 agenda items, we rejected 21 %. The highest percentage of «against» recommendations were reached for remuneration reports, which was, in turn, also the agenda item category with the highest percentage of «against»-votes at general meetings.

zRating – Methodology for Assessing Corporate Governance

Since 2009, the Corporate Governance of Swiss-listed companies has been assessed under zRating. As a Corporate Governance expert, Inrate has developed a methodology to assess the Corporate Governance of Swiss-listed companies based on 68 quantitative and qualitative criteria with a maximum score of 100 points. Thereby, Inrate assesses the composition of the board of directors and the management, the remuneration and participation models, the shareholders and capital structure, the participation rights of shareholders, and the company’s sustainability and information policy.

Voting Recommendations

As a transparent Proxy Advisor, we publish the date of the upcoming general meeting in advance and the short version of our voting recommendations on the day of the general meeting. You can find the list below:

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