A Shared Interest: Do Bonds Strengthen Equity Monitoring?

Institutional investors conduct more governance research and are less likely to follow proxy advisor vote recommendations when a company’s bonds comprise a larger share of their assets. Bond holdings of companies with low ESG scores and where the fixed-income fund manager is more likely to be attentive and influence their institutions’ voting decisions drive these findings. The findings do not concentrate on companies or shareholder proposals where creditor-shareholder conflicts are likely. Overall, the findings suggest that corporate bond holdings influence how actively institutions monitor their equity positions and contribute to institutions’ overall incentive to be engaged stewards.