Proxy voting and American Funds

A proxy authorizes someone other than the owner of a stock to cast a vote on his or her behalf at the issuing company’s shareholder meeting. Proxies typically are used by shareholders to elect a company’s board of directors, select independent auditors, approve executive compensation, and vote on other management- or shareholder-sponsored proposals.

With responsibility for millions of shares of stocks, American Funds routinely votes by proxy. Through this process, we aim to promote the long-term financial interests of our shareholders.

Our proxy voting procedures and principles

We view proxies of companies held by the portfolios as significant fund assets — and proxy voting as an integral part of the overall investment process. Our Global Proxy Voting Policies summarize our views on various corporate governance proposals. Through the proxy voting process, we aim to protect the long-term financial interests of our investors.

Our proxy voting results

Throughout the year, we vote by proxy on thousands of proposals from all types of companies, ranging from small businesses to international companies.

In some situations, we don’t vote proxies for companies outside the U.S., particularly when the expense outweighs the benefit to shareholders, liquidity issues exist, documents are not sufficient to make an informed decision, or if we are not notified of a scheduled meeting.