John Galloway was named global head of investment stewardship at Vanguard Group, the firm said in a statement Tuesday.
Mr. Galloway succeeds Glenn Booraem, who will stay on as a senior adviser.
Vanguard said in the statement that the investment stewardship team launched in 2001 is now one of the world's largest, with 35 governance professionals.
"Over the coming months, we will make clear our expectations for board and workforce diversity, climate change risk, and will engage with companies to better understand how COVID-19 has shaped their views of systemic risk," Mr. Galloway said in the same statement.
The appointment came on the same day that Vanguard released its 2020 Investment Stewardship Annual Report, detailing company engagements, case studies, vote rationales and mutual fund voting activities in the year ended June 30.
The investment stewardship team engaged with nearly 800 companies across 27 countries and voted on more than 168,000 proposals.
Board composition and executive compensation accounted for 70% and 47% of engagements, respectively, while 33% of engagements were with companies in carbon-intensive industries.
Vanguard also engaged with portfolio companies on matters related to climate change and diversity.
"During this period of global uncertainty, the importance of remaining focused on the long term has never been clearer, and good governance has never been more important," Anne Robinson, managing director and general counsel for Vanguard, said in a statement.
