August 29, 2012

Press Release
Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Results of Exercise of Voting Rights at June 2012 GSMs
Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. (“Nikko AM”) announced today the results of its exercise of voting
rights in proposals made at the general shareholder meetings of 1,904 invested companies between July
2011 and June 2012. Nikko AM voted against 2,327 of a total 18,950 company-generated proposals,resulting in a 12.3 percent ratio of nay votes on such proposals. Details may be found in the table below.
In aiming to ensure the fulfillment of its fiduciary responsibility by appropriately exercising its voting rights
in the companies in which it invests, Nikko AM established its Guidelines for the Exercise of Voting Rights
in 2002 and exercises its voting rights based on the content of those guidelines, while also making
revisions to them when so required.
As a result of partially revising last year's guidelines in order to more rigorously assess theindependence of external directors, Nikko AM voted against 1,266 of 12,731 proposals on the election ordismissal of directors. Accordingly, the nay ratio in this category rose by 0.4% from the previous year to9.9%. In opposition to payments to external directors and auditors, Nikko AM rejected 138 of 339, or
40.7% of proposals on retirement benefit payments. The number of proposals on preventive measuresagainst acquisition decreased from last year but Nikko AM's nay ratio for such proposals remained almost
the same at 96.0%.
An increase in large shareholder-generated proposals was characteristic of shareholder meetings inJune 2012. The number of proposals submitted rose by 30% from 115 last year to 152, including
proposals from local governments against power companies and so-called proxy fights that sought toinstall new company management. Nikko AM's yea ratio for shareholder-generated proposals was 2.0%.
Nikko AM was the first asset management company in Japan to release results of its exercise of voting
rights, and has been doing so since 2007. The past results of its exercise of voting rights are available foryour reference on the following page on our website.
http://en.nikkoam.com/voting-rights/results
Nikko AM will continue to fulfill its fiduciary responsibility through active dialogue with the companies inwhich it invests.

Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Midtown Tower, 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6242, Japan
www.nikkoam.com

Status of Exercise of Voting Rights by Proposal Type
1. Company-generated Proposals
July 2011 – June 2012
Proposal(For Ref.) July 2010 – June 2011

Subtotal

Yea

Nay

Nay
ratio

Subtotal

Yea

Nay

Nay
ratio

1,309

1,283

26

2.0%

1,285

1,199

86

6.7%

562

501

61

10.9%

474

414

60

12.7%

Election/Dismissal of directors

12,731

11,465

1,2669.9%

13,575

12,280

1,295

9.5%

Election/Dismissal of corporate auditors

3,185

2,561

624

19.6%

3,184

2,558

626

19.7%

Retirement benefit payments

339

201

138

40.7%

390

240

150

38.5%

Revision of executive remuneration amount

373

346

277.2%

352

336

164.5%

Granting of stock acquisition rights

176

112

64

36.4%

184

124

60

32.6%

Restructuring

61

441727.9%52

411121.2%Other company-generated proposals

214

110

104

48.6%

315

123

192

61.0%

100

49696.0%

187

4183

97.9%

Selection of corporate auditors

31

3100.0%434300.0%

Other

8375

89.6%

85

76

910.6%

18,95016,623

2,327

12.3%

19,811

17,315

2,496

12.6%

Appropriation of surpluses
Partial revision to articles of incorporation

Granting of stock acquisition rights(preventive measures against acquisition)

Total

2. Shareholder Proposals
July 2011 – June 2012
Proposal(For Ref.) July 2010 – June 2011

Subtotal

Yea

Nay

Yea
ratio

Subtotal

Yea

Nay

Yea
ratio

Appropriation of surpluses

51

4

20.0%

3030.0%Election/Dismissal of officers

62260

3.2%

75

471

5.3%

Other proposals

85085

0.0%

371362.7%

152

3149

2.0%

115

5110

4.3%

(incl. revision to articles of incorporation)

Total

Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Midtown Tower, 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6242, Japan
www.nikkoam.com

About Nikko Asset Management

Established in 1959, the Nikko Asset Management Group (Nikko AM) has grown to be the largest regional asset
management company headquartered in Asia, with total AUM over US$158 billion* and one of the largest
distributor networks across the Asia-Pacific region, comprising over 300 banks, brokers and life insurancecompanies.
Nikko AM manages a wide range of Asian equity and Asian fixed income strategies for retail and institutional
investors around the world. The company has been recognised by industry peers for outstanding performance,
product innovation and market leadership across the Asia region, winning a number of prestigious awards which
includes “Asia-Based Asset Manager of the Year” in 2012 and “Best Japan Onshore Fund Manager” in 2012 and2011, both from AsianInvestor.
Nikko AM also offers specialist third-party expertise – currently over 40 fund managers – through the World Series
Fund Platform®, operating a “best-in-class” approach across a broad range of asset classes.
Nikko AM’s senior management team has significant experience across Asian as well as global markets. The team
combines local knowledge with internationally recognised standards of investment practice, transparency andcorporate governance to achieve growth across the business. The company adopts a “multi local” approach –giving local management teams a high degree of autonomy to address local market conditions and client servicing
needs.
Nikko AM’s head office is in Tokyo, with an extensive footprint across the Asia-Pacific region that includes local
offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland. Global offices in New York andLondon with full service teams provide support to investors in the US, Europe and the Middle East. Nikko AM holds
a 40% stake in Rongtong Fund Management, the 7th largest Sino-foreign joint venture fund management group inChina, while in Malaysia, a 51% stake in Asian Islamic Investment Management Sdn. Bhd. and a 30% stake inHwang Investment Management Berhad – both leading investment management firms – add to Nikko AM’s
regional presence**.
Nikko AM is majority owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, while DBS Bank is the second largestshareholder.
Nikko AM continues to operate independently.
For more information, please visit www.nikkoam.com/english* Consolidated assets under management and advice of Nikko AM and its subsidiaries as at 31 March 2012.
**As of December 2011

Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Midtown Tower, 9-7-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6242, Japan
www.nikkoam.com