Institutional investors

Abstract

A significant change in ownership of listed Icelandic companies has taken place over the past decade or so. The majority of the ownership is in the hands of institutional investors. The aim of this research is to improve understanding of how Icelandic institutional investors interact with companies in which they are shareholders and use their ownership to influence those companies, especially corporate governance. The main findings are that investment stewardship by Icelandic institutional shareholders happens behind the scenes with meetings and informal communication. It does also happen with public dissent of shareholder proposals and/or by voting for or against proposals at shareholder meetings. These findings are in line with how investment stewardship is in neighbouring countries, with the exception that transparency outside of Iceland is a more meaningful part of the stewardship process.