Last week, State Street Global Advisors released its annual asset stewardship report. With nearly $3.5 trillion in assets under management, the firm is one of the world's largest asset managers. In 2020, it voted in more than 19,000 meetings and engaged with over 2,400 companies.

In this episode, we hear from Ben Colton and Rob Walker, co-heads of the firm's asset stewardship program. They tell us about the themes the firm focused on in shareholder engagements in 2020, like COVID-19 response, supply chain resilience and racial and gender diversity. And they say that last one is poised for rapid change.

"I believe that in the next six to 12 months, you're going to see a revolution in the quality and the quantity of data related not only to racial and ethnic diversity, but human capital management more broadly," Ben says.

They also talk about the emerging themes they're engaging on in 2021 proxy season. The Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, or TCFD, has become widely adopted. Now, Ben and Rob say investors are shifting their focus from baseline climate disclosures to the governance of environmental issues.

State Street Global Advisors' latest asset stewardship report can be found here: https://www.ssga.com/library-content/pdfs/asset-stewardship/asset-stewardship-report-2020.pdf

Photo credit: Getty Images