Vanguard Group called upon companies to have more diverse boards and staff, according to two commentaries posted on the company's website.
Beginning next year, the company "may vote against directors at companies where progress on board diversity falls behind market norms and expectations" and "may hold nominating committee chairs or other relevant directors accountable," according to a commentary titled "A continued call for boardroom diversity."
The firm is also calling upon companies to publish their employee recruitment, retention and inclusion policies and disclose their workforce diversity measures in terms of gender, race and ethnicity "at the executive, non-executive, and overall workforce levels," according to its "Diversity in the workplace" commentary.
Vanguard has not called for any specific quotas or figures it expects from companies.
"We don't advocate for one-size-fits-all mandates," the board diversity commentary said, adding that Vanguard's "due diligence process is flexible" and will evaluate companies case by case.