FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Analysis of 4.57 million vote records reveals systematic gaps between asset owners and asset managers – most pronounced on social and environmental proposals
April 8, 2026 – OxProx today announced its Proxy Voting Divergence Report, one of the first quantitative studies to document the gap between how asset owners (AOs) and asset managers (AMs) vote on proposals at corporate meetings across sectors, geographies, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Drawing on 4.57 million vote records from 464 institutional investors across the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand for the proxy year ending June 30, 2025, the report confirms that voting divergence is widespread and material.
Key Findings
Asset owners vote in support of ESG and shareholder-initiated proposals at substantially higher rates than asset managers. The gap is most pronounced in Supply Chain, Social Capital, and Shareholder-Led Environmental proposals, where asset owners vote FOR at rates 27 to 30 percentage points higher than asset managers. On Climate Change (+23 pp) and Human Capital (+17 pp) proposals, asset owners also show considerably greater support.
A Transatlantic Divide
The divergence is sharpest when comparing UK and European asset owners to US asset managers. Across six proposal categories, UK+EU asset owners vote FOR at rates 27.8 to 68.3 percentage points higher than US asset managers. The gap is most extreme on Social Capital (+68.3 pp) and Supply Chain proposals (+65.1 pp). The divide has real consequences: several European asset owners terminated mandates with US managers in 2025, citing voting misalignment as a contributing factor.
Smaller Asset Owners Push Back the Hardest
Asset owners with less than $100B AUM vote against management recommendations at rates exceeding both larger asset owners and every tier of asset manager. In Social Capital proposals, smaller asset owners oppose management 67.7% of the time – compared to 42–52% across asset manager tiers. The pattern holds across multiple categories, including Supply Chain (63.0%) and Shareholder-Led Environment proposals (61.4%).
Why It Matters
When asset managers vote against the preferences of the asset owners they represent, the consequences can be significant: stewardship efforts are undermined, beneficiary interests may not be served, and asset owners’ market influence is diluted. Despite these stakes, voting misalignment often goes undetected – largely because identifying it requires aggregating and standardizing large volumes of fragmented data across multiple sources.
Read the Report (PDF) and Executive Summary (online) here: https://oxprox.org/proxy-voting-divergence-report/
Spokesperson Statements:
- “Proxy voting is one of the most powerful tools an investor has to hold companies accountable, but that power is diluted when votes are cast in ways that don’t reflect the intentions of principals whose capital is at stake,” said OxProx CEO Dustyn Lanz. “This report makes the disconnect visible. Across nearly every category we examined, the gap between asset owners and managers is consistent, measurable, and in some cases, remarkably wide. We hope this data starts conversations that lead to better alignment, and ultimately to better outcomes for clients and beneficiaries across the investment landscape.”
- “Proxy voting is one of the most impactful ways asset owners communicate their stewardship priorities to public companies, yet the complexity of ownership structures and voting rights can lead to inconsistent and unclear voting outcomes in practice. This report provides concrete evidence of where proxy voting divergence exists and how significant it can be. It gives investors a stronger foundation to review their proxy voting strategies, strengthen oversight, and better integrate proxy voting into stewardship practice,” said Kelly Hirsch, Founder and President of Kaivalya Research.
About the Report
The Proxy Voting Divergence Report examines how asset owners and asset managers vote differently on shareholder proposals – and where those gaps are widest. It is the first report of its kind published by OxProx and draws on 4.57 million vote records from 464 institutional investors headquartered across the US, UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, covering the proxy year ending June 30, 2025. The sample covers 48 institutional asset owners and 416 asset managers. The report analyzes voting patterns across 10 ESG categories, with a particular focus on ESG-related proposals where divergence is most pronounced. OxProx undertook this work to validate that voting divergence persists, and to shed light on voting divergence as a step towards improving AO-AM alignment, which OxProx believes can lead to better outcomes for shareholders and society. The report was developed in collaboration with Kaivalya Research.
About OxProx
OxProx is a social venture spun out of Oxford University Innovation, dedicated to amplifying investor stewardship through proxy voting transparency and accountability. We are building the world’s first global, public database of proxy voting records, empowering everyone to see how institutional investors vote on environmental, social, and governance issues at corporate meetings.
OxProx provides data-driven insights to investors, consultancies, NGOs, researchers and other clients whose revenues support the development of the public database. Our database supports stewardship by helping investors benchmark their voting records against peers and identifying alignment gaps with external managers. Learn more at www.oxprox.org
About Kaivalya Research
At Kaivalya Research, we provide rigorous research, analysis, and governance insight to help clients build the systems, frameworks, and processes that support better decisions and outcomes in complex, evolving environments.
We work with asset owners, investment managers, and companies to navigate policy, capital, and stakeholder expectations. Our expertise spans responsible investment, stewardship, governance, and sustainability-related strategies. Through research, analysis, and implementation support, we help investors translate their values, objectives, and commitments into actionable responsible investment policies and engagement strategies across portfolios, while bringing independent perspective and practical support to internal teams. We also help companies better understand investor expectations and focus their efforts where they can have the greatest impact. Learn more at www.kaivalyaresearch.com.
Media Enquiries:
Dustyn Lanz, OxProx CEO: hello[at]oxprox.org
Kelly Hirsch, Kaivalya Founder and President: kellyhirsch[at]kaivalyaresearch.com
