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Arkansas

Arkansas has three main public pension systems: the Arkansas Public Employees’ Retirement System (APERS), the Arkansas Judicial Retirement System (AJRS), and the Arkansas State Police Retirement System (ASPRS). Arkansas’ Act 1242 (2009) merged the investable assets of ASPRS with those of APERS, granting all authority over these assets to the APERS Board of Trustees. APERS reports on the proxy voting for all 3 of these systems.

  • The APERS board represents eligible public employees of the state and consists of 13 members: 3 Ex Officio (Auditor of State, Treasurer of State, Secretary of the Department of Finance); 6 appointed by the Governor; 2 appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate; 2 appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Arkansas uses ISS for its proxy advisory services.

The “By Asset Manager” and “Asset Manager Voting” tables show the proxy voting records of the state’s asset managers who manage the pensions’ stock market portfolio through index, exchange-traded, or mutual funds. Since these are externally managed funds, the asset managers typically retain and exercise proxy voting privileges. This data is used to calculate the state’s pro-ESG and anti-ESG scores to see how the state leverages its externally managed funds in proxy voting.

The “State Voting” table shows the state’s proxy voting records for directly owned securities through pension fund portfolios. The 1792 Exchange commends Arkansas for passing Act 498 which requires the online disclosure of proxy voting for its public pensioners.

Both tables are important to show a comprehensive picture of the state’s proxy voting record.

By Asset Manager

Aristotle Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

29%

Acadian Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

-

Aritsan Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

17%

Baillie Gifford Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

29%

BNY Mellon Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

21%

Boston Partners Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

28%

CastleArk Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

-

DoubleLine Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

52%

Franklin Templeton Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

51%

Horrell Capital Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

-

Lazard Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

49%

LSV Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

37%

MacKay Shields Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

-

SSI Investment Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

-

Stephens Investment Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

-

Wellington Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

-

Asset Manager Voting

Pro-ESG

29.3%

Anti-ESG

2.6%

Anti-Fossil Fuels

28%

Anti-Pollution/Waste

32%

Animal Rights

14%

DEI

27%

Weapons/Defense

16%

Human Rights

34%

Income Equality

29%

Political Speech/Lobbying Spending

31%

Health Care

19%

Race/Gender targets on Boards

37%

Non-Pecuniary Corporate Purpose

18%

ESG-Focused Governance

21%

Abortion

18%

Pro-Fossil Fuel

2%

Equality not DEI

2%

Controversial Cause Support

2%

Geopolitical Rivals/China

2%

State Voting

Pro-ESG

0%

Anti-ESG

0%

Anti-Fossil Fuels

0%

Anti-Pollution/Waste

0%

Animal Rights

0%

DEI

0%

Weapons/Defense

0%

Human Rights

0%

Income Equality

0%

Political Speech/Lobbying Spending

0%

Health Care

N/A

Race/Gender targets on Board

N/A

Non-Pecuniary Corporate Purpose

0%

ESG-Focused Governance

N/A

Abortion

0%

Pro-Fossil Fuel

N/A

Equality not DEI

0%

Controversial Cause Support

N/A

Geopolitical Rivals/China

0%

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