Being active owners in the companies we invest in has been a matter of course for Lannebo since 2000 when the fund company started. What has become clear over the years when we have reviewed the companies through dialogue with company management is that fine and now increasingly detailed sustainability reports, policies and codes often say quite little about how it works in reality out in the companies. For the individual employee, it is not so much about these reports but about the governance and leadership that is in place. That leadership and governance are value-creating is nothing new in itself, but in the increasingly rapidly changing world we live in, it places high demands on corporate governance.

Lannebo’s strong culture of commitment to the companies we invest in means that we see an equity investment for what it is – an ownership stake in a company. With ownership comes a responsibility but also an opportunity to be there for the companies, to push, encourage and promote long-term value creation. In practice, active ownership can be boiled down to three basic elements: participating in the nomination committee, exercising one’s voting rights at the general meeting and engaging with the companies.

The nomination committee, with the appointment of the board and its directors, is an important part of our role as active owners. We are very committed to our work with the nomination committees, and in Sweden Lannebo is one of the investors who participate in the most committees. A company’s work begins with the Board, which is why we consider it of utmost importance that the Board consists of a diversity of skills, experience and gender. Lannebo Fonder continuously works with the board selection process in order to achieve diversity, and it is important that the selection process is as broad as possible so that the best candidates can be appointed. Some of the most important tasks of the nomination committee are to submit proposals for the election of the chairman of the general meeting, the board of directors and the chairman of the board of directors, the election of auditors in consultation with the audit committee, proposals for fees for board members, remuneration for committee work and audit fees.

In addition to the work of the nomination committee, we exercise our ownership influence at general meetings of companies in which the funds are major shareholders. The general meeting is the company’s highest decision-making body where shareholders have the right to exercise their influence and make their voices heard. We vote at AGMs in over 40 percent of our holdings.

As a major shareholder in many companies, especially smaller ones, we have the opportunity to exert influence through dialog with the companies. We meet many of the senior executives in our investments regularly and have a close relationship with them. We also continuously monitor relevant company events by monitoring public information and visiting the companies. In this way, we can identify at an early stage the need to engage with the companies concerned.