Schwab Asset Management Proxy Voting Choice
Policy Options
1
Vote with CSIM
If you select this policy, your proportionate share will be voted in accordance with CSIM’s stewardship policy based on guidelines that seek to maximize shareholder value and focus on principles of corporate governance.
Schwab Asset Management believes that corporate directors, as the elected representatives of all shareholders, are best positioned to oversee the management of their companies. Accordingly, we typically support the recommendations of management and a board of directors on proxy matters unless we believe they are not in the best interest of our fund shareholders. We also recognize that companies can conduct themselves in ways that present significant legal and reputational consequences. Therefore, Schwab Asset Management's focus on maximizing long-term shareholder value includes consideration of all potential material risks that we believe are relevant to individual companies.
Schwab Asset Management’s proxy voting process focuses on:
- Board composition and quality
- Actions a board has taken to drive strategy, deliver performance, and manage relevant risks
- Clarity and accessibility of reporting on key material issues
2
Vote with management
If you select this policy, your proportionate share will be voted in accordance with the recommendation on each proposal made by the company’s board of directors, pursuant to the company board’s fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the company’s shareholders.
Selecting this policy will typically result in votes supporting management proposals and votes opposing shareholder proposals.
3
Vote with third-party policy (Glass Lewis Benchmark Policy)
Votes will be cast in accordance with the Glass Lewis Benchmark Policy, which Glass Lewis describes as factoring in a company’s unique operations and characteristics with the objective of enhancing long-term shareholder. Glass Lewis highlights elements of their policy in areas including Board, Compensation and Material Sustainability.
Glass Lewis & Co., LLC (“Glass Lewis”) is a corporate governance solutions provider offering products including proxy research and recommendations, issuer-related data, a menu of proxy voting policies as well as an electronic proxy voting platform, in addition to other offerings.
To assist CSIM in its responsibility for voting proxies and the overall proxy voting process, CSIM has retained Glass Lewis to provide services including research, global issuer analysis, and voting recommendations as well as vote execution, reporting and record keeping.
4
Vote to abstain
If you select this policy, your proportionate share will be cast as an "ABSTAIN" vote on all proposals.
You will not be abstaining from voting proxies, but rather actively choosing to neither support or oppose all proposals.