service provider. AllianzGI uses an electronic proxy voting platform provided by ISS to cast our votes. In addition, we have access to various other sources of sustainability research, corporate governance indicators, as well as sell- side analysis that we use to supplement our analysis and assessment. Proxy voting and internal consultation process The general approach of AllianzGI, which applies globally, is to use corporate governance analysis as an important input into company research, internal ratings and company engagement. Our investment platform has processes designed to link portfolio managers and the Sustainability Research and Stewardship teams, and through their collaboration we are able to highlight ESG risks and substandard practices in investee companies. AllianzGI has adopted a risk-based approach to proxy voting research and analysis. This means the Stewardship team focuses its effort on reviewing shareholder meeting proposals for the proportion of holdings in our portfolios deemed particularly important to us and potentially higher risk, mainly large aggregate positions across our strategies, core holdings in individual funds, companies with an ongoing engagement activity, etc. Our proxy voting policy is consistently applied to the remaining holdings. Once reviewed, proposals are logged within our global collaboration system which is accessible to our investment teams. This means they can review potentially contentious proposals for holdings in their portfolios and discuss them with the Stewardship team for further analysis before reaching a consensus decision. For policy overrides, internal consultations involving analysts and portfolio managers take place through this system as well. We do not automatically support company management or the board, which is evidenced by our voting statistics. AllianzGI aims to have one integrated view when it comes to proxy voting decisions and will only depart from this approach in exceptional circumstances when differing votes by investment teams can be justified by strategy- specific considerations. AllianzGI encourages investee companies to engage with us long in advance of shareholder meetings. We favour robust dialogue that leads to improvements in corporate practices rather than voting against management proposals at shareholder meetings. Whenever practical, we will seek discussions with companies on contentious issues. Where we hold a significant stake or have been engaging the company, we will endeavour to advise the company in advance of any decision to vote against or abstain on management proposals. Securities lending Securities lending can play a role in enhancing returns where it is deemed appropriate. We do not actively engage in securities lending on behalf of either our mutual funds or assets for institutional clients, whether via an in-house securities lending desk or a third-party agency. However, where an individual institutional client requests us to facilitate securities lending through external agency lending – for example via an independently selected custodian – we strive to support this activity within our operational process frameworks. AllianzGI Stewardship Statement 14