Investors call for annual strategy meetings with chief executives
THE BOSSES of major listed companies should meet investors for an annual strategy meeting as well as the standard AGM, the Collective Engagement Working Group of institutional investors said yesterday.
The institutional investors argue the strategy meeting will focus the executives’ minds on long term results, balancing out the short-term focus that comes with quarterly financial reporting.
The idea is one proposal from the groups including the Investment Management Association, the Association of British Insurers and the National Association of Pension Funds, who want to set up an Investor Forum.
Together the investor groups are responding to pressure from politicians to focus on long-term value rather than short-term success.
“Improved collective engagement by investors is a vital part of achieving this, and I would encourage long-term investors in UK companies to make a genuine and sustained commitment to its success,” said business secretary Vince Cable. “We now need to see immediate and concrete action to make the Forum a reality.”
The working group also wants to increase the focus on corporate governance when making investment decisions.
And the investors want to make it easier for shareholders from around the world to meet and act together when problems arise at firms they invest in.