Strategy for the exercise of voting rights

Golding Capital Partners has developed a strategy with regard to when and how any voting rights in the portfolio of the managed Golding funds are to be exercised to ensure that the exercise of voting rights is exclusively for the benefit of the Golding funds and their investors.

The exercise of voting rights at the level of the assets, especially as a limited partner, is part of the proper management of the Golding funds. The company has, subject to the particular directly or indirectly controlled voting rights, the opportunity to exercise influence on the assets and to this extent represent the interests of the Golding funds and their investors. 

Golding Capital Partners ensures that the company receives all information and requests on the assets for the exercise of voting rights in a timely manner, in particular, to ensure the monitoring of relevant corporate actions. For this purpose, the company has an email address dedicated to communicating with the assets and their managers, which also guarantees timely processing in the event of representation.

Golding Capital Partners exercises voting rights at the level of the assets directly or indirectly, in principle. The company specifically refrains from such action if the costs connected with carrying it out or the expenditure are unreasonably high in relation to the share of voting rights and the possibility of the influence on the assets being only slight, and no disadvantage to the interests of the Golding funds and their investors is expected. 

Golding Capital Partners decides on the exercise of voting rights for each Golding fund independently and solely based on objective reasons, which take into consideration, in particular, the investment goals and in-vestment policy of the Golding fund concerned and the guidelines of the company with regard to sustainable and responsible investment, as well as independent of the interests of third parties and taking into consideration the integrity of the market. If Golding Capital Partners does not exercise voting rights itself but uses a proxy, the company issues appropriate instructions. In principle, voting by proxy is done as an exception in individual cases. 

To avoid conflicts of interest, in principle, no member of the Board of Directors can make decisions on the exer-cise of voting rights on his or her own. Members of the Board of Directors who have a conflict of interest are – regardless of whether it concerns opposing personal interests or other interests – excluded from the decision-making process.
 
If the regulations of the assets provide for an influence, Golding Capital Partners takes into consideration the following concrete guidelines for exercising voting rights: 

  • Management body: Golding Capital Partners values the knowledgeability and reliability of the man-agement body and supports a responsible management style directed towards long-term value crea-tion. 
  • Annual report: Golding Capital Partners values the conveyance of an appropriate picture of the assets, financial position and returns to the actual relationships in the annual accounts and the certifying of the annual accounts by an auditor without restrictions. 
  • Auditors: Golding Capital Partners values the independence of the auditors, appropriate remuneration and the guaranteed required transparency.

Golding Capital Partners regularly checks whether this strategy for the exercise of voting rights is still effective and appropriate.