AXA Investment Managers increased discussions with companies on ESG issues by 14% in 2023, with climate change by far the top issue in its engagement activities. In its latest stewardship report, the France-based asset manager said it engaged a total of 681 times with 503 companies last year. Climate change accounted for 37% of those engagements, up from 28% the previous year. This reflected growing integration of climate considerations throughout the investment process, AXA said. Human capital and corporate governance each accounted for 17% of engagements, followed by resources and ecosystems at 16%. Throughout the year, AXA voted on a total of 54,782 proposals, representing about 98% of all the proposals it could have voted on. ESG factors were “additive” to that performance, according to AXA IM Executive Chairman Marco Morelli, who said that the firm would prioritise transparency and assertive engagement over the next three years, and focus on critical issues such as biodiversity loss, pollution and human and worker rights.
