Border to Coast expands ESG voting and engagement scrutiny August 16th, 2024 Border to Coast Pensions Partnership is advancing its monitoring of its wider external manager ESG voting and engagement to boost support for ESG resolutions. The pension pool, which pools the investments of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds and represents £52.3 billion in […]
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FRC releases major update to UK Stewardship Code July 22nd, 2024 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published significant revisions to the UK Stewardship Code application process. The regulator has also announced that it has identified five priority areas of review, following engagement with over 1,500 stakeholders, as it continues its revisions of the code. […]
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The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has launched the engagement process for Spring, an investor stewardship initiative focused on tackling the material financial risks of biodiversity loss.
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Direct engagement with companies produces better results than shareholder resolutions at AGMs, an asset manager has argued. US investment house T Rowe Price, which runs approximately $1trn, stated in its annual ESG report that it preferred to engage one-to-one with companies to encourage positive changes rather than focus on shareholder campaigns at annual meetings. The […]
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Environmental factors top list of investor priorities Environmental and corporate governance issues topped the list of biggest priorities for the UK’s largest investors – but stewardship engagement remains an area of concern, a report reveals. EY’s inaugural report into investor stewardship and engagement found that while investors and asset managers were most focused on environment […]
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Despite its shorter length companies may find adapting to the UK’s revised corporate governance code challenging, business leaders and advisers suggested. However, there was broad support for the approach taken by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) after it launched its consultation last week. Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents […]
Read MoreRetailer Sports Direct which has been under intense scrutiny from investors, politicians and the media for over a year due to perceived corporate governance failings and criticisms of its working practices has appointed a permanent finance director. Jon Kempster will join the company and its board in September. His previous experience includes being finance director […]
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US regulators have responded to concerns that employee pension plans have not been exercising their shareholder rights by issuing updated guidance on proxy voting for 2017. The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) agency said that it is has long believed that it is important for plan administrators to know what their responsibilities […]
Read MoreUK investment campaign group ShareAction has urged investors to use the binding votes on remuneration policy at BP and Shell in 2017 to ensure the oil majors can demonstrate their commercial strategies are aligned with a move to a low carbon economy. In an investor briefing ShareAction said it believes shareholders should engage with the companies to ensure […]
Read MoreForty institutional investors, including Coller Capital, three Swedish state pension funds, Aviva, Nordea and Robeco have launched an engagement with 16 multinational food companies highlighting the material risks posed by industrial animal production. The coalition, which together manages $1.25 trillion in assets, has written to the companies urging them to identify their plans to respond to this risk, in particular […]
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