ESG Stewardship Associate (Proxy Voting)

William Blair Investment Management is committed to building enduring relationships with our clients. We work closely with private and public pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as financial advisors. We are 100% active-employee-owned with broad-based ownership. Our investment teams are solely focused on active management and employ disciplined, analytical research processes across a wide range of strategies, including U.S. equity, non-U.S. equity, emerging markets debt, and multi-asset. William Blair is based in Chicago with global resources providing expertise and solutions to meet our clients’ evolving needs.

William Blair is seeking an ESG Stewardship Associate to support the firm’s proxy voting and investee company engagement efforts. The successful candidate will report to the director of sustainable investing and contribute to the firm’s global stewardship activities. The individual will support the firm’s proxy voting process and policies, working closely with the global and U.S. equity teams, as well as the proxy administration team

Primary Responsibilities

• Identify material voting considerations in support of fundamental equity analysts
• Analyze key proxy proposals and advisor voting recommendations
• Provide proxy voting advice and guidance on key proposals to fundamental analysts who have primary company research responsibilities
• Support fundamental analysts, ESG analysts and portfolio managers as they engage with company management teams and board members on material issues, including proxy-related matters
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the firm’s proxy voting policies and guidelines
• Liaise with William Blair’s proxy administration team, proxy committee and external proxy advisor
• Document voting activity in internal systems and provide relevant examples for inclusion in reporting materials
• Identify emerging topics and best practices in proxy voting and corporate governance and communicate to colleagues

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in proxy voting, corporate governance and engagement
• Experience with proxy advisors and processes is preferred
• Familiarity with ESG-related shareholder proposals and proxy-related industry trends
• Self-motivated individual with the ambition to succeed and work collaboratively in an environment that demands constant multi-tasking
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills, with the ability to build and maintain trusted relationships across all levels and represent William Blair positively to external contacts   
• Accountability and willingness to take initiative to independently learn and continuously improve output 
• Effective writing skills to support recording of voting and engagement activity on internal systems as well as identification of meaningful and relevant examples for inclusion in reporting materials
• Undergraduate degree and minimum of 3-5 years of relevant work experience
• Completion of ESG-focused credential or certificate program is preferred (e.g., SASB FSA, CFA ESG Certificate, PRI Academy, etc.)