A conversation between our Founder Darshita Gillies, and CEO of Tumelo, Georgia Stewart on Voting trends and insights for 2025.
1. Introduction:
Darshita Gillies: Tumelo has been at the forefront of transforming shareholder democracy. What inspired you to start Tumelo, and how has your mission evolved?
Georgia Stewart: The lightbulb moment for Tumelo came when a group of us at university started questioning where our university’s endowment was invested, and how the university voted on climate resolutions at the companies held within its portfolio.
From there, my co-founders and I began to see this huge gap between the people who actually own shares—millions of us, through our pensions or investments—and the decisions being made in their name. It seemed there was zero visibility, zero voice, and zero accountability.
We believed then, and still do now, that investors should have more influence over the companies they’re invested in—especially on big issues like climate change, workers’ rights, and corporate ethics. Those issues shape our world, and capital has power.
When we started Tumelo, the mission was simple: transparency and influence for everyday investors. As we’ve grown, the market has also evolved, and transparency between fund managers and their clients has massively increased. At the same time, we’ve realised just how complex the system is—and how difficult it is to truly democratise shareholder voting. We became obsessed with solving that problem.
So, today, we’re focused on helping asset managers and pension providers democratise & scale stewardship in a way that’s transparent, inclusive, and aligned with the people whose money they manage.
Darshita Gillies: The industry has seen significant progress in pass-through voting. Can you share your perspective on why this milestone matters and what it unlocks for the future?
Georgia Stewart: Pass-through voting is important because it brings investors closer to the decisions being made with their capital. For fund managers, it’s an opportunity—not a threat—to build stronger relationships with clients by giving them a clearer voice in stewardship.
This isn’t just a technical shift, it’s a cultural one. Investors—especially pension savers and institutions—are increasingly engaged with how their money is used. Pass-through voting allows that engagement to be constructive, visible, and scalable.
In the long run, this makes stewardship more aligned, more transparent, and more collaborative. That’s good for clients, good for fund managers, and good for the companies being invested in.
2. Voting Trends in 2025:
Darshita Gillies: You recently attended the CII conference. What were the key themes or discussions that stood out to you?
Georgia Stewart: CII was great this year—really strong panels, and lots of practical discussion on where stewardship is heading.
One highlight for me was a panel on US water risk—a reminder that underinvestment in infrastructure is creating serious long-term financial and societal risk. That kind of topic used to sit outside the mainstream, but it’s now being taken seriously by big investors, which was encouraging to see.
I’m bias of course but there was also a brilliant session on pass-through voting, led by Vanguard and joined by others like Northern Trust, who’ve launched successful programs. It was great to hear how they’re actually implementing it—not just the theory. Unsurprisingly, a lot of early uptake is coming from progressive European clients, which tracks with what we’ve seen too. And interestingly, the panel’s issuer representative said that issuers still feel that fund managers vote well today. That made me pause—that’s different to what you hear in the media (e.g. from Jamie Dimon). This could possibly be because the level of support for management from fund managers has risen again after dipping in recent years. It’ll be interesting to see how that dynamic evolves as more end investors get involved.
Also: a hilarious lunchtime debate on crypto in pensions, with strong opinions flying and more than a few jabs at the new US crypto fund. Safe to say the consensus was: “not on my watch”.
Darshita Gillies: Did any specific trends or challenges emerge that asset managers and asset owners should be paying close attention to?
Georgia Stewart: Yes—and they’re worth taking seriously.
One big theme was materiality over ideology. ESG is still very much on the agenda, but the tone has shifted. There’s more focus on tangible, bottom-line risks—like water scarcity or cyber resilience—and less on broad systemic issues, which are arguably harder to measure and act on. Personally I think this shift is paving the way for greater divergence between the US and Europe, because Europe is still very focused on systemic problems like long-term effects on consumer health which are hard to measure/prove at the single company level but still very important to address.
3. Challenges and Opportunities in Voting & Stewardship:
Darshita Gillies: Tumelo has played a pivotal role in advancing pass-through voting. Can you share more about the recent success and what it took to get here?
Georgia Stewart: We’re proud to have helped some of the world’s largest asset managers and pension providers bring pass-through voting to life. Last year alone, Tumelo enabled over 115,000 underlying investors to express their voting preferences across billions in assets and thousands of votes. That level of participation simply wasn’t possible a few years ago, so it’s safe to say we’ve made a tonne of amazing progress thanks to our team, client and asset owner partners.
Darshita Gillies: What are the biggest challenges remaining in scaling pass-through voting, and how do you see them being addressed?
Georgia Stewart: I’d say there are two main challenges:
- First is operational complexity. The ecosystem is full of moving parts—multiple custodians, fund structures, voting policies, jurisdictions with different rules. Our job is to simplify all of that and make it invisible to the end user—we want to handle the mush behind the scenes, so fund managers and clients don’t have to.
- Second is engagement. Even when people care deeply about the issues, the voting process can feel distant. We’re focused on making it easier for investors to understand, express, and influence—without needing to become proxy experts.
Fortunately, there’s real momentum. Regulators are supportive. Asset owners are engaged. And asset managers are increasingly seeing this as an opportunity to lead—not just react.
4. Innovations in Data and Technology
Darshita Gillies: What stewardship trends do you think will define the next 3–5 years?
Georgia Stewart: Three big shifts are already underway—and they’re only going to accelerate.
1. Personalisation at scale.
We’re moving beyond one-size-fits-all stewardship. Investors increasingly want to see their investment strategy and/or values reflected in how votes are cast and companies are engaged with. That doesn’t mean cost or chaos—it just requires smarter infrastructure. The firms that embrace this shift will stand out, especially as expectations rise from pension members, trustees, and wealth clients.
2. Transparency becomes the default.
Gone are the days of generic stewardship reports. Asset owners want specifics: how did you vote, why, and what changed as a result? Fund managers who can provide that clarity (and access)—at scale—will build stronger relationships, faster.
3. Regulation raises the bar.
We’re already seeing it in the UK, EU, and increasingly the US. Stewardship isn’t just a “nice to have” anymore—it’s a core part of fiduciary responsibility that everyone is concerned about (for different reasons…). That’s pushing the industry to review their activities and be clear about what they are doing, why they’re doing it, who they’re doing it on behalf of and make sure it’s all recorded in the correct way.
Underpinning all of this is one big idea: stewardship is becoming more democratic. And that’s a huge opportunity—for firms willing to lead.
Darshita Gillies: How can investment firms and pension funds accelerate their stewardship impact through tools like Tumelo?
Georgia Stewart: Start by asking: Are we really aligned with our clients’ values? And can we prove it?
Tumelo gives firms the tools to answer that confidently. We make it easy to empower your clients to lead on stewardship; to set their bar and hold themselves to it—we give firms the infrastructure to do this well, without adding complexity.
For asset managers, that means differentiation, stronger client relationships, and a scalable way to respond to rising expectations. For asset owners, it means finally having a voice—and seeing it count.
It’s about turning stewardship into a two-way conversation, not just a quarterly report.
