Meritas Mutual Funds is renewing its contract with Institutional Shareholder Services, a shareholder resolution research and voting firm, to provide proxy voting results online at Meritas’ website: www.meritas.ca.

Meritas, based in Cambridge, Ont., is manages socially responsible mutual funds for individual and institutional investors.

“We have publicly posted our proxy votes since Meritas’ inception. In line with our intention to be as transparent as possible, we wanted to show our investors how we intend to vote the shares that we hold on their behalf,” said Gary Hawton, CEO of Meritas Mutual Funds.

In Canada and the United States, regulators are considering mandating the disclosure of proxy votes by investment management companies. However, the industry associations and some mutual fund companies on both sides of the border have spoken out against this practice citing reasons that include range from cost issues to a perceived lack of investor concern over the voting of proxies.

“We have found that the cost to do this is minimal in light of the overall cost structure of our organization”, said Hawton. “I can not see why investment managers or investors do not want to take on this role.”

In its role, ISS will assist Meritas by providing recommendations based on Meritas’ set of standards. Meritas’ social and environmental standards encompass a comprehensive set of screens but are stated in a manner that reflects the view that SRI can be used to help companies become more aware of corporate social responsibility.

The Meritas standards declare that, in addition to displaying strong financial fundamentals, companies in which its Funds invest should: respect the dignity and value of all people, help build a world at peace and free from violence, internalize a concern for justice in a global society, exhibit responsible management practices, support and involve communities and practice environmental stewardship.