What Actares does

Actares is a Swiss non-profit shareholders' association ("Aktionärsvereinigung") founded in 2000 and headquartered in Geneva. It represents individual and institutional shareholders of Swiss listed companies, focusing on promoting sustainable business practices, responsible corporate governance, and transparency at Swiss AGMs. The organization operates with a lean team of six employees and is funded through membership contributions and donations.

Its core offerings include proxy voting delegation services, voting recommendations issued ahead of each AGM season, formal voting guidelines, company-specific dossiers on Swiss listed issuers, and thematic topic dossiers covering issues such as climate strategy and sustainability disclosure. Members use these products to exercise informed voting rights and to engage with portfolio companies on environmental, social, and governance issues. Public recommendations in 2025–2026 span major Swiss issuers including Holcim, Nestlé, UBS, Swiss Re, Sandoz, Zurich Insurance, and Novartis, including support for Holcim's North America spinoff and opposition to sustainability reports from Nestlé, UBS, Swiss Re, and Zurich on climate-related grounds.

The business model is membership-based: individuals and institutions that hold shares in Swiss listed companies join Actares, pay membership contributions, and receive access to voting recommendations and analytical products. There is no transactional pricing, no enterprise software offering, and no disclosed financial data. Actares competes in a niche alongside other Swiss and European shareholder advocacy organizations and ESG-focused investor groups, differentiating primarily through its independence, its multi-decade track record, and its consistent public positioning at the AGMs of Switzerland's largest listed companies.

Name

Actares

Legal name

Actares

Website

https://actares.ch

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Actares is a Geneva-based, member-funded Swiss shareholders' association founded in 2000 that produces voting recommendations, guidelines, and dossiers to help shareholders of Swiss listed companies promote sustainable business practices and responsible governance at AGMs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Shareholder Advocacy and ESG Governance Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Stewardship & Active Ownership (Engagement, Proxy Voting, Shareholder Advocacy) (FSAAALAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Proxy Voting & Governance Services (FSAAAOAJ), Proxy Voting & Shareholder Meetings (AGM/EGM) (FSACAKAB)

Keywords

• Shareholder advocacy
• ESG voting recommendations
• Proxy voting delegation
• Corporate governance services
• Sustainable investing analysis

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Actares is a Swiss shareholders' association that enables individual shareholders of Swiss listed companies to collectively influence corporate governance and ESG performance at annual general meetings. Its core deliverables are proxy voting delegation services, voting recommendations aligned with social and ecological criteria, and voting guidelines, supported by company-specific dossiers, topic-based dossiers, and sustainability analyses.

Product overview

Actares is a shareholder association for Swiss listed companies that offers a suite of shareholder services centered on promoting sustainable business practices. The core offerings include proxy voting delegation (Delegation der Stimmrechte), voting recommendations (Abstimmungsempfehlungen), and voting guidelines (Richtlinien für Abstimmungen). These services are supported by analytical content including company-specific dossiers (Dossiers nach Firmen), topic-based dossiers (Dossiers nach Themen), and research analyses (Analysen). The organization engages directly with companies to advocate for the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria alongside economic factors in business policy decisions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Delegation der Stimmrechte Proxy voting delegation service allowing shareholders of Swiss listed companies to transfer their voting rights at annual general meetings to Actares, which then casts votes aligned with the organization's sustainability criteria. The service is targeted at individual shareholders seeking collective influence at AGMs.
• Abstimmungsempfehlungen Published voting recommendations that guide shareholders on how to vote at Swiss company general meetings, evaluated against ESG criteria covering climate strategy, social responsibility, and corporate governance. The recommendations target individual shareholders and members who want independent, sustainability-aligned voting guidance.
• Richtlinien für Abstimmungen Voting guidelines that formalize the principles and sustainability criteria Actares uses to derive its AGM voting recommendations for Swiss listed companies, providing transparency about the framework applied to specific agenda items.
• Dossiers nach Firmen Company-specific dossiers providing in-depth analysis and engagement history with individual Swiss listed companies, used by members and the public to assess corporate sustainability performance ahead of AGMs.
• Dossiers nach Themen Topic-based dossiers organizing Actares' research and analysis by sustainability themes such as climate strategy, social responsibility, and corporate governance for Swiss listed companies.
• Analysen Research and analysis publications that examine the sustainability performance of Swiss listed companies and the outcomes of shareholder engagement activities, supporting the organization's advocacy positions and voting recommendations.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• ShareAction: UK-based charity mobilizing institutional and retail investors for responsible investment and shareholder advocacy on ESG issues. Comparable member-funded, advocacy-driven business model targeting listed companies.
• Ethos Foundation: Swiss foundation that pools shareholder voting and engages Swiss listed companies on ESG issues, operating an almost identical proxy-voting/dossier-based model to Actares. It is the closest direct peer, both geographically (Geneva, Switzerland) and functionally.
• As You Sow: US nonprofit that engages US listed companies through shareholder resolutions, proxy voting recommendations, and corporate sustainability research. Closely comparable mission and product mix to Actares (voting recs + dossiers + analyses).
• Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR): US-based coalition of faith- and values-driven investors that files shareholder resolutions and engages US/global listed companies on ESG topics. Member-funded stewardship model directly comparable to Actares.

Broad incumbents

• Glass Lewis: One of the two largest global proxy advisory firms providing voting recommendations and governance research to institutional investors. Overlaps with Actares' voting-recommendation service but operates at much greater scale and on a commercial basis.
• Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS): Global proxy advisor and governance analytics provider serving institutional investors. Competes in the same proxy voting / governance research category as Actares but with a commercial, institutionally-funded model and global coverage.
• Federated Hermes (EOS team): Federated Hermes' EOS engagement service engages global listed companies on long-term ESG issues on behalf of institutional asset owners. Comparable stewardship activity but larger scale, institutionally funded, and global rather than Switzerland-only.

Emerging players

• ECPI Group: European ESG research, ratings, and index provider with an investor-engagement heritage. Adjacent to Actares through ESG research and stewardship focus, though its primary business is commercial ESG analytics rather than advocacy.
• Green Century Funds: US-based family of fossil-fuel-free mutual funds that engages companies and files shareholder proposals. Similar ESG advocacy and proxy-voting orientation as Actares but embedded in a fund-management business rather than a standalone association.

Others

• Swiss Sustainable Finance: Swiss industry association that promotes sustainable investment practices among financial institutions. Not a direct voting/advocacy peer but operates in the same Swiss sustainable-finance ecosystem and is a potential coalition partner for Actares.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/actares50

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Actares