Voting & Engagement Guidelines
Guided by the foundational principles, the Australian Shareholders’ Association (ASA) serves as a vigilant advocate for corporate governance and investor rights. Our Voting and Engagement Guidelines are the bedrock of our comprehensive company monitoring efforts and advocacy initiatives, encapsulating member expectations for exemplary investment performance, ethical director conduct, and corporate governance standards.
When it comes to our voting intentions, ASA exercises its open proxies on various resolutions at corporate meetings, and ensure they are directly aligned with our established voting and engagement guidelines.
ASA’s 2025 Focus Issues
ASA advocates for better outcomes for retail investors. Through company engagement and governance advocacy, ASA pushes listed companies to act in the best interests of all shareholders — especially individual investors.
ASA’s focus issues for the 2026 financial year (1 July 2025 – 30 June 2026) are:
Retail shareholders must be given fair and equitable treatment in capital raisings. ASA opposes institutional-only placements.
We advocate for the use of PAITREOs (pro-rata accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offers with retail rights trading) as the preferred method of raising capital.
If a Share Purchase Plan (SPP) is used, it should only be capped in a way that maintains the level of retail ownership prior to the raise.
Hybrid annual general meetings (AGMs) should be the standard — allowing both in-person and online shareholder participation. ASA opposes virtual-only meetings.
Retail shareholders should be invited to analyst briefings and market updates, which should be recorded and made available on the company website.
Companies should also issue email reminders to shareholders before voting deadlines and capital raising closes to encourage informed participation.
Boards must have a mix of relevant skills and experience, clearly disclosed through a board skills matrix published in the annual report.
ASA expects board diversity across age, gender, and geography, and directors must not be overcommitted.
Directors should demonstrate alignment with shareholders by holding shares equivalent to at least one year’s director fees.
Executive pay must be clearly linked to performance and reflect sound corporate governance principles, appropriate to the company’s size and sector.
Remuneration reports should be easy to understand and show a logical connection between company results and executive rewards.
The company’s remuneration report should transparently demonstrate a logical relationship between rewards, financial performance and corporate governance consistent with the company’s scale and industry.
ASX-listed companies should disclose clear and relevant sustainability and ESG strategies to enable shareholders to make informed investment decisions. ASA also assesses how executive remuneration supports a sustainable corporate culture.
Effective engagement is the best form of shareholder activism
ASA monitors the performance of most of Australia’s ASX200 companies with a dedicated team of company monitors. These volunteer members meet with company chairs and directors to discuss issues of importance to retail shareholders. in line with ASA’s Voting and engagement guidelines. Company monitors attend AGMs to ask questions and represent our members and retail shareholders.
Why become an ASA Monitor
Becoming a volunteer company monitor for Australian Shareholders’ Association offers the opportunity to actively engage in corporate governance, ensuring companies are accountable to their shareholders. It also provides a unique platform to influence corporate practices while enhancing your own investment knowledge and skills.
All ASA company monitors are member volunteers.
If you are interested in becoming a company monitor, please contact Fiona Balzer by emailing share@asa.asn.au