Growing gap in support between US and European asset managers
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Morningstar’s latest proxy-voting research shows a steep drop in the number of sustainability-related shareholder resolutions gaining significant shareholder support. There are also growing gaps in support between US and European asset managers, and between large and mid-sized firms.
The research finds that:
- In the 2025 US proxy season, just 30 sustainability resolutions attracted significant shareholder support, down from more than 100 in each of the previous five years.
- Overall, average support for significant resolutions on sustainability remained steady at around 40% for the past three proxy years, down from 54% in 2021.
- The overall stability in average support for significant resolutions masks continued divergence in voting preferences of US and European asset managers, which has persisted since the 2021 peak.
- Average support by 20 US asset managers for significant resolutions fell by 11 percentage points to 31% over the past three proxy years. Among 18 European firms, there was only a 3-percentage-point drop to 91% over the same period. US sustainable funds showed a similar stable trend.
- We see a relationship between firm size and the timing of reductions in support for these proposals. The largest reductions in support by the top 10 US firms by size occurred in the 2024 proxy year. For the next 10 US firms in this study, this happened in 2025.
"Proxy voting has traditionally offered investors a useful window into asset managers’ sustainability priorities. What we’re seeing now is not just a shift in voting behaviour, but a shrinking set of resolutions that generate enough support to send a clear signal at all.
That makes it harder for asset owners to distinguish between genuine differences in stewardship philosophy and the impact of a thinner, more volatile voting dataset – particularly in the US, where regulatory and political pressures are increasingly shaping how sustainability issues show up on the ballot. Still, despite the thin recent data, clear differences in intentionality between European and US asset managers on sustainability are still highly visible."
That makes it harder for asset owners to distinguish between genuine differences in stewardship philosophy and the impact of a thinner, more volatile voting dataset – particularly in the US, where regulatory and political pressures are increasingly shaping how sustainability issues show up on the ballot. Still, despite the thin recent data, clear differences in intentionality between European and US asset managers on sustainability are still highly visible."
Lindsey Stewart, Director of Institutional Investor Content at Morningstar
Published by
Morningstar Sustainalytics
