▲ Financial Supervisory Service
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on July 6 that the voting participation and dissent rates of domestic asset management funds have shown slight improvement.
The FSS reviewed a total of 46,827 agenda items from 285 domestic asset management firms regarding their fund voting and disclosure records from April 2025 to March 2026. The results showed a voting participation rate of 91.8% and a dissent rate of 8.2%.
Approval votes accounted for 82.4%, while abstentions or neutral votes stood at 9.4%.
The participation and dissent rates have continued to rise, following figures of 79.6% and 5.2% in 2024, and 91.6% and 6.8% in 2025, respectively.
However, compared to the National Pension Service (which recorded a 99.8% participation rate and a 23.1% dissent rate last year), asset management firms remain relatively passive.
Agenda items that faced opposition from asset managers included executive compensation (11.7%), articles of incorporation amendments (9.2%), and the appointment or dismissal of directors and auditors (7.2%).
While the number of firms providing reasons for their votes and complying with disclosure formats has increased, some managers were found to be engaging in only perfunctory disclosures and passive voting.
Among the firms reviewed, 121 companies (42.4%) provided generic justifications for more than half of their voting items, such as "minimal impact on the general shareholders' meeting" or "no infringement on shareholder rights."
Fifty-one firms (17.8%) operated in a perfunctory manner, and 59 firms (20.7%) failed to disclose their detailed guidelines.
Fifty firms were found to have abstained from all agenda items, while 82 firms voted in favor of all items.
Errors in disclosure forms, such as missing agenda names, types, or relationships with the target corporation, were frequently observed among private equity management firms.
While internal management systems for exercising shareholder rights have improved, particularly among large public offering asset managers, a clear gap remains compared to small and medium-sized firms.
Eighteen firms (26.9%) operated dedicated organizations for exercising shareholder rights, including voting. The remaining 49 firms relied on sector-specific managers in their investment or research departments to handle these duties alongside their regular tasks, or delegated them to back-office staff.
Forty firms (59.7%) established separate decision-making bodies, such as a "Fiduciary Responsibility Committee," to deliberate and vote on major agenda items. The remaining 27 firms allowed the responsible fund manager or the head of the investment division to make final decisions based on the importance of each agenda item.
Twenty firms (29.9%) incorporated performance related to voting and shareholder rights into their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Samsung Asset Management, NH-Amundi Asset Management, and VIP Asset Management received favorable evaluations regarding their voting practices and internal management systems.
Samsung and NH-Amundi have established robust management systems for exercising shareholder rights, including dedicated organizations and KPIs, and have been active in shareholder engagement, such as conducting management interviews and sending shareholder letters.
Despite being a smaller firm, VIP had the highest number of dedicated staff relative to its assets under management and actively engaged in voting and shareholder activities.
Conversely, Shinhan Asset Management, Woori Asset Management, and Samsung Active Asset Management were criticized for high rates of repetitive justifications for voting or insufficient systems for exercising shareholder rights, given their scale of assets under management.
The FSS stated, "Improvements are being made, particularly among public offering asset managers, in providing reasons for voting and complying with disclosure formats," adding, "We plan to strengthen guidance on voting and disclosure, focusing on private equity management firms."
The FSS will hold a meeting with CEOs of asset management firms on July 13 to discuss strengthening the fulfillment of fiduciary duties and the faithful exercise of shareholder rights. Furthermore, the FSS plans to share best practices and areas for improvement through information sessions for both public and private asset managers between July and August.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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