Pension funds to give line on votes
THE National Association of Pension Funds is to require its members to
state their policy on voting at company meetings in their Statement of
Investment Principles, after an independent report on voting.
The NAPF will also give formal recognition to schemes which encourage
voting.
The moves come after government pressure on the issue, which has
encouraged the NAPF to bring voting to the attention of its members in a bid to
avoid compulsion.
Lynn Ruddick, the NAPF's committee chairman, said: "Voting levels must
increase if compulsion is to be avoided and I would urge all those involved to
read and act upon this significant and detailed study."
The independent committee, set up by the NAPF nine months ago, said it
expected voting by institutions to increase from 4Opc to around 60pc as a
result of the report. Institutions own approximately 85pc of UK company
shares.
It also said voting needed to be less paper-based to speed up and
simplify the process.
Simon Osborne of Railtrack, a committee member, said: "The paper-driven
[voting] system has not altered in 150 years. It doesn't take into account the
developments in financial services.''
However, there are already a number of agencies implementing electronic
voting for institutions, with only the final lodgement legally required to be
paper-based.
Sarah Wilson, managing director of the electronic voting agency
Manifest, said around 10pc of institutions used Manifest, but it
would take a cultural change for all institutions to vote.
Justine Trueman, The Daily Telegraph
6 July, 1999
Return to News Index
|
