Did you know that some types of investing enable you to vote on certain corporate issues? It's called proxy voting.

At most publicly traded companies around the world, it works like this: If you own shares of a company’s stock, you get to vote on important governance topics for the company . . . 

Such as:

• who sits on the board of directors, 
• executive pay plans, 
• and proposals put forward by other people who are also invested in the company. 

In essence, proxy voting recognizes that equity investors are owners of the companies in which they invest—and it enables them to participate in certain decisions. 

But what if you choose to invest in companies through a mutual fund or an ETF? These funds invest your money across dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of companies. 

Traditionally, the fund manager votes proxies at the companies the fund invests in, according to the fund’s voting policies.

And through this traditional approach, the fund’s votes help to ensure that companies are governed in the long-term interests of the fund’s investors—like you. 

Over the past few years, as more and more investors have expressed an interest in proxy voting, Vanguard has pioneered ways for equity fund investors to play a role in how proxies are voted, through a program called Investor Choice.  

Learn more about how you can get involved.

So, how do Vanguard funds approach proxy voting—and why does it matter?

As a firm built around highly diversified passive investing, Vanguard offers over 400 funds. While each fund has unique strategies, they share one goal: To help investors meet their long-term financial goals.

And just as different Vanguard funds have different strategies, they may also vote differently on specific proxy ballots, based on the best interests of each fund’s shareholders.

Proxy voting for Vanguard-advised funds is carried out by in-house experts dedicated to long-term passive investing.  And for our active sub-advised funds, proxy voting is handled by our partner investment firms.

Vanguard is also empowering individual shareholders through Investor Choice, which gives investors more say about how votes are cast by participating funds. 

Learn more about how you can get involved.

Vanguard has a 50-year history of making investing more accessible for millions of people . . .   

. . . from creating the world’s first index fund for everyday investors, to innovating low-cost target-date funds and investment advice.

More recently, we’ve reimagined proxy voting so that individual investors, their advisors, and retirement plan sponsors can participate more directly in the proxy voting process. We call it Investor Choice, and it empowers our investors with a voice on how proxies are voted.

It’s easy to sign up: If you invest in a Vanguard equity index fund, with one click, you can choose a voting policy that aligns with your preferences.

Your policy selection determines how your shares vote at the companies in which your fund invests on important topics such as executive pay and the election of board members.

Vanguard has expanded Investor Choice since launching its first pilot in 2023, and we continue to see more and more investors eager to have their voices heard.

Learn more about how you can get involved.