Wisconsin

Wisconsin has one main public pension fund administrator:

The WRS board consists of 9 members: 1 Ex Officio (Commissioner of Insurance); 6 appointed by the Governor; 1 appointed by the Governor from a list of names submitted by the executive committee of the Wisconsin Counties Association; 1 appointed by the Governor from a list of names submitted by the Board of Directors of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) is entrusted with managing the assets of the system and exercising proxy votes; SWIB discloses its specific proxy voting records on this website.

The first table utilizes the state’s publicly disclosed proxy voting records for public securities that it directly owns through pension fund portfolios. The second table uses the aggregated proxy voting records of the state’s asset managers, who manage the pensions’ stock market portfolio either through mutual funds or ETFs, and are therefore exercising proxy voting privileges as well. Both of these tables are necessary to reflect an accurate and comprehensive picture of the state’s proxy voting records.

Averages

Pro-ESG

Anti-ESG

State Voting Average

50%

State Voting Average (Anti-ESG):

7.41%

State Rank

49th

State Rank (Anti-ESG):

9th

Asset Manager Average

60%

Asset Manager Average (Anti-ESG):

By Asset Manager

Blackstone

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

60%

Asset Manager Voting

Board Diversity:

50%

Require Environmental/Social Qualifications:

Establish Environmental/Social Committee:

Link Executive Pay to Social Goals:

Climate Change:

29%

GHG Emissions:

50%

Climate Change Action:

50%

Report on Healthcare/Abortion:

50%

Weapons-Related Proposals:

50%

Social Proposal:

Income Inequality:

Political Activities and Action:

Political Contributions and Lobbying:

71%

Political Lobbying Disclosure:

92%

Racial Equity Audit:

60%

Management Environmental Proposals:

83%

Anti-Social:

Charitable Contributions:

20%

State Voting

Board Diversity:

0.0%

Require Environmental/Social Qualifications:

0.0%

Establish Environmental/Social Committee:

0.0%

Link Executive Pay to Social Goals:

0.0%

Climate Change:

41.8%

GHG Emissions:

87.5%

Report on Healthcare/Abortion:

100.0%

Weapons-Related Proposals:

0.0%

Social Proposal:

44.6%

Income Inequality:

26.3%

Political Activities and Action:

58.3%

Political Contributions and Lobbying:

80.0%

Political Contributions and Lobbying:

80.8%

Racial Equity Audit:

56.7%

Management Environmental Proposals:

100.0%

Anti-Social:

7.1%

Charitable Contributions:

7.7%

**The Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) has denied that State Street invests equities or casts proxy votes for the State. RSA has yet to publish its proxy voting records or disclose its investment managers. RSA’s public records list State Street a custodial bank and as a fund manager. No other investment managers are named in RSA public records, which is what is reported on the 1792 Exchange Proxy Database. RSA claims that Glass Lewis conducts its proxy voting. 1792 Exchange encourages RSA to publish these voting records in order that these records might be updated on this page. 1792 Exchange also encourages RSA to retain authority over proxy voting for ESG resolutions and not entrust these duties to Glass Lewis, a firm the Attorney General of Alabama has investigated for promoting ESG priorities at the expense of fiduciary responsibility.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this report, ‘Proxy Voting,’ is intended for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Click here for the full disclaimer.