Odin as an Active Owner

At Odin, we ensure active ownership. We use our influence as shareholders to promote sustainability awareness and encourage our portfolio companies to strengthen their sustainability efforts. We help prepare these companies for future challenges, benefiting both the businesses themselves and their shareholders.
Our approach includes voting at annual general meetings, participating in nomination committees in the Nordic region, and maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the portfolio companies.

Odin’s portfolio managers aim to vote at all annual general meetings of the companies we invest in. The general meeting is the company’s highest governing body, providing shareholders with the opportunity to influence corporate decisions and ensure sound corporate governance through the election of board members.

You can find Odin’s voting guidelines and details on how we vote in our Sustainability Library.

Odin’s funds are concentrated, typically consisting of around 30-35 companies. As a result, we are often significant shareholders in the companies we invest in. Our portfolio managers participate in nomination committees to ensure that individuals with the right expertise and experience are appointed to company boards. The board represents the interests of shareholders and plays a crucial role in ensuring that a company’s strategy creates long-term value.

At Odin, we maintain active and structured dialogues with our portfolio companies. Our goal is to understand their business operations, assess risks and opportunities, and provide meaningful feedback on their sustainability efforts. Company dialogues are an integrated part of our ownership strategy and follows the principles outlined in Odin’s Responsible Investment Guidelines.

Different Types of Engagement

• Ongoing company dialogue: Our portfolio managers and sustainability specialists engage regularly with company management, particularly in our home markets, to gain insight into business strategy, financial performance, ESG risks and sustainability impact. In some cases, we conduct targeted engagements focusing on specific themes or sectors where we see a need for improvement.
• Incident-driven engagement: If a company is involved in incidents that may conflict with our responsible investment guidelines, we initiate direct dialogue to assess the situation and understand how the company plans to address it.
• Collaborative engagement: For companies where we hold smaller stakes, particularly in large global firms, we may collaborate with other investors to amplify our influence. This could involve working through platforms like the UN PRI Collaboration Platform.

Structured and Focused Interaction
Sustainability is a natural part of our discussions with companies. We strive to provide constructive feedback while gaining insights into how companies manage challenges and seize opportunities.
If a company fails to demonstrate sufficient willingness or ability to address concerns over time, we assess whether further action is necessary. This may involve escalating our engagement or, as a last resort, divesting from the company.