EX-99.(c) Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures
Proxy Voting Guidelines and Procedures
TCW, through certain subsidiaries and affiliates, acts as investment advisor for a variety of clients, including U.S.-registered investment companies. TCW has the right to vote proxies on behalf of its U.S. registered investment company clients and other clients, and believes that proxy voting rights can be a significant asset of its clients holdings.
Accordingly, TCW seeks to exercise that right consistent with its fiduciary duties on behalf of its clients. This policy applies to all discretionary accounts over which TCW has proxy voting responsibility or an obligation to provide proxy voting guidance with respect to the holdings it advises on a model or wrap basis.
While the Global Portfolio Proxy Voting Policy, Guidelines, and Procedures (the Policy) outlined here are written to apply internationally, differences in local practice and law make a universal application of these guidelines impractical. As a consequence, it is important to note that each proposal is considered individually, reflecting the effects on the specific company and unique attributes of the industry and/or geography. In addition, this document serves as a set of general guidelines, not hardcoded rules, which are designed to aid us in voting proxies for TCW and not necessarily in making investment decisions. At TCW, we reserve the right in all cases to vote in contravention of the guidelines outlined in this Policy where doing so is judged to represent the best interests of its clients in the specific situation.
Engagement and Active Ownership Philosophy
As we seek to deliver on our clients financial objectives, engagement and active ownership are integral components of TCWs research and investment process. Our data-informed engagement and active ownership practices achieve several objectives. The information elicited from these practices not only helps improve our fundamental research, but our engagement and active ownership practices may also have positive impacts on the company or other entities by suggesting best practices in addressing critical, financially material issues in areas of sustainability, corporate governance, or executive compensation.
Our approach to engagement and active ownership encompasses a variety of tools tailored to different asset classes. Engagement is a practice applied to all our investments, spanning equity and fixed income, in both private and public markets. Proxy voting, on the other hand, is primarily relevant to public equities. Situations in which we find ourselves as a significant or controlling shareholder, or situations where we are the lead debt holder in a special situation occur primarily within our private business and demand a more tailored approach. We also actively engage with the industry in question to help leverage our expertise and improve industry practices more broadly.
Our portfolio managers, research analysts, and sustainable investment analysts collaborate closely in our ongoing dialogues with companies, investee entities, as well as suppliers, customers, competitors, and the broader industry. Our objective is, wherever feasible, to pursue engagement in an integrated fashion, bringing together investment professionals from sustainability and fundamental research teams, often focused on different parts of the capital structure. This integrated approach to engagement forms the cornerstone of our active ownership responsibilities and guides the investment choices we make on behalf of our clients. As an example, TCW analysts covering the same company from sustainability, corporate credit, and public equity research teams frequently find themselves jointly engaging with management on topics related to corporate strategy and governance, as well as climate-related business plans, executive compensation, and diversity of perspectives on the board.
The depth and breadth of TCWs investments provides an important platform by which we engage with companies and other entities. Engagement is not just about having a dialogue with companies and other entities that already demonstrate a comprehensive approach to sustainability; it is also about engaging with companies and other entities that have less advanced sustainability practices. Our primary goal with engagement is to advance best practices in governance, transparency, and the management of identified material risks to ultimately drive long-term value in the investments we make on behalf of our clients.
Engagement is a dynamic and long-term process that evolves over multiple years. While change may require considerable time to materialize, our analysts continually reinforce and monitor our engagement objectives during their regular interactions with companies and other entities. Lack of responsiveness or progress is duly reflected in their assessments of investee entities, potentially leading to further actions as deemed necessary. We maintain a record of our engagements and may provide our clients with the understanding of both the volume and depth of engagements.
Proxy Voting Procedures
TCW will make every reasonable effort to execute proxy votes on behalf of its clients prior to the applicable deadlines. However, TCW often relies on third parties, including custodians and clients, for the timely provision of proxy ballots. TCW may be unable to execute on proxy votes if it does not receive requisite materials with sufficient time to review and process them.
Furthermore, TCW may receive ballots for some strategies for which the typical expression of our engagement and stewardship policies may not be possible. For instance, quantitative strategies use machine learning models that employ algorithms for security selection, and these securities may only be held for a short period of time. For ballots received for securities held in these strategies, TCW may elect not to vote.
Additionally, TCW may receive ballots for strategies under the TCW Transform ETF platform for companies in jurisdictions where the availability of certain data would permit TCW to further assess company practices along certain themes, where these themes may be deemed material. Please see the Guidelines section below for further detail on those areas.
Proxy Committee
In order to carry out its fiduciary responsibilities in the voting of proxies for its clients, TCW has established a proxy voting committee (the Proxy Committee). The Proxy Committee generally meets quarterly (or at such other frequency as determined by the Proxy Committee), and its duties include establishing and maintaining the Policy, overseeing the internal proxy voting process, and reviewing proxy voting proposals and issues that may not be covered by the Policy. The Proxy Committee has been working with TCWs equity investment teams to evolve TCWs engagement process, proxy voting philosophy, scope of coverage, and execution.
Proxy Voting Services
TCW also uses outside proxy voting services (each an Outside Service) to help manage the proxy voting process. An Outside Service facilitates TCWs voting according to the Policy (or, if applicable, according to guidelines submitted by TCWs clients) by providing proxy research, an enhanced voting technology solution, and record keeping and reporting system(s). To supplement its own research and analysis in determining how best to vote a particular proxy proposal, TCW may utilize research, analysis or recommendations provided by the proxy voting service on a case-by-case basis. TCW does not as a policy follow the assessments or recommendations provided by the proxy voting service without its own determination and review. Under specified circumstances described below involving potential conflicts of interest, an Outside Service may also be requested to help decide certain proxy votes. In those instances, the Proxy Committee shall review and evaluate the voting recommendations of such Outside Service to ensure that recommendations are consistent with TCWs clients best interests.
Sub-Adviser
Where TCW has retained the services of a Sub-Adviser to provide day-to-day portfolio management for the portfolio, TCW may delegate proxy voting authority to the Sub-Adviser; provided that the Sub-Adviser either (1) follows TCWs Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures; or (2) has demonstrated that its proxy voting policies and procedures (Sub-Advisers Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures) are in the best interests of TCWs clients and appear to comply with governing regulations. TCW also shall be provided the opportunity to review a Sub- Advisers Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures as deemed necessary or appropriate by TCW.
Conflicts of Interest
In the event a potential conflict of interest arises in the context of voting proxies for TCWs clients, TCW will cast its votes according to the Policies or any applicable guidelines provided by TCWs clients. In cases where a conflict of interest exists and there is no predetermined vote, the Proxy Committee will vote the proposals in a manner consistent with established conflict of interest procedures.
Proxy Voting Information and Recordkeeping
Upon request, TCW provides proxy voting records to its clients. TCW shall disclose the present policy as well as the results of its implementation (including the way TCW has voted) on its website in accordance with applicable law.
TCW or an Outside Service will keep records of the following items: (i) Proxy Voting Policies and any other proxy voting procedures; (ii) proxy statements received regarding client securities (unless such statements are available on the SECs Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system); (iii) records of votes cast on behalf of clients (if maintained by an Outside Service, that Outside Service will provide copies of those records promptly upon request); (iv) records of written requests for proxy voting information and TCWs response; and (v) any documents prepared by TCW that were material to making a decision on how to vote, or that memorialized the basis for the decision. Additionally, TCW or an Outside Service will maintain any documentation related to an identified material conflict of interest.
TCW or an Outside Service will maintain these records in an easily accessible place for at least seven years from the end of the fiscal year during which the last entry was made on such record. For the most recent two years, TCW or an Outside Service will store such records at its principal office.
International Proxy Voting
While TCW utilizes these Proxy Voting Policies for both international and domestic portfolios and clients, there are some significant differences between voting U.S. company proxies and voting non-U.S. company proxies. For U.S. companies, it is relatively easy to vote proxies, as the proxies are automatically received and may be voted by mail or electronically.
For proxies of non-U.S. companies, although it is typically both difficult and costly to vote proxies, TCW will make every reasonable effort to vote such proxies.
For further information on the Corporations Global Proxy Voting Policy, including procedures and guidelines, please visit: https://www.tcw.com/Global-Proxy-Voting-Policy.