In 2025, Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) slightly reduced its overall opposition to Belgian listed companies, yet it continues to take a particularly firm stance on executive remuneration. This emerges from the Belgian voting results for 2025 and the updated 2026 Global Voting Policy.
AllianzGI voted against 55% of remuneration reports at Belgian companies in 2025. This is broadly in line with 2024 (54%) and below the 2023 level (61%), but still places Belgium among the European countries with the highest opposition rates on executive pay.
Overall opposition to management proposals in Belgium declined from 20% in 2024 to 18.6% in 2025. The decrease is mainly attributable to fewer negative votes on certain governance-related resolutions, although key areas of concern remain.
Transparency and ESG Still Key Concerns
AllianzGI’s main concerns relate to the structure of variable remuneration. These include insufficient transparency, a lack of sufficiently rigorous performance targets, and inadequate integration of clear, measurable and relevant ESG performance indicators.
With regard to board elections, AllianzGI voted against 27% of related resolutions in 2025, compared with 30% in 2024. The objections were primarily linked to excessive board mandates, overly long tenures and the appointment of non-independent directors to audit committees.
Opposition to capital-related proposals fell sharply, from 36% in 2024 to 18.9% in 2025, largely due to reduced concerns about excessive shareholder dilution.
Strengthened Voting Policy for 2026
With the publication of its Global Voting Policy 2026, AllianzGI further reinforces its governance and sustainability standards. Notably, the firm will no longer support non-independent chairs who previously combined the roles of Chair and CEO, underlining the importance of independent oversight.
In addition, AllianzGI is raising the bar for ESG metrics in executive compensation. Key performance indicators must be aligned with the company’s long-term strategy and reflect both its business model and sector. The asset manager also expects companies to use different performance metrics for annual and long-term variable pay, in order to avoid double counting.
In 2025, AllianzGI participated in 8,690 shareholder meetings worldwide and voted on nearly 90,000 proposals, opposing at least one item at 71% of meetings.
These figures demonstrate that active ownership remains central to AllianzGI’s approach. In Belgium as well, the asset manager continues to apply constructive pressure on companies to enhance governance standards, transparency and the alignment between pay and long-term performance.
