Nomura Asset Management revised its basic policy on responsible investment and its proxy voting guidelines for global and Japanese companies effective 1 November 2026. It announced, among other changes, the addition of human rights and digital society risk management to the role model criteria and an increase in the minimum ROE threshold.
Nomura Asset Management revised its “Basic Policy on Responsible Investment,” “Basic Policy on Global Proxy Voting” and “Proxy Voting Guidelines for Japanese Companies” effective 1 November 2026. It said it had mainly reviewed 3 areas, taking into account progress in corporate governance reform, the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives, and management with capital costs and share prices in mind.
The first addition concerns the role model criteria. The company established criteria intended to require companies comprising the TOPIX100 to undertake exemplary initiatives, and identified human rights and digital society risk management as sustainability issues of particular focus. If these areas are inadequate, the criteria for opposing director election proposals will be applied.
The second change is an increase in the minimum ROE threshold under the performance criteria, strengthening the criteria for opposing proposals on the grounds of persistently low ROE. A level of 5–6% is in view for non-cash-rich companies, while the threshold for cash-rich companies will be raised from 8% to 10%. The new minimum thresholds are scheduled to be phased in for shareholder meetings held from November 2027 onward.
The third change is the removal of the criteria for opposing increases in executive compensation, bonuses and payments of retirement allowances on the grounds of poor performance. The company said this reflected progress in establishing compensation governance and its policy of making the performance criteria more stringent. It also included a change raising the requirement for a majority of the members of the nomination (compensation) committee to be outside directors. Finally, it revised its preferred approach to management and clarified the integration of engagement and proxy voting.