Investors call for improved stewardship
A GROUP of major asset managers including Aviva and BlackRock are calling today for reforms to improve the stewardship of UK companies.
The group’s report argues for the development of a framework for equity investors to identify the level of stewardship they plan to undertake, helping asset owners to make better decisions. It also calls for fuller feedback between companies and investors and for companies to have a plan for how to achieve a critical mass of stewardship investors.
The recommendations, from a group made up of Aviva Investors, BlackRock, Governance for Owners, RPMI Railpen, Ram Trust and USS and supported by think tank Tomorrow’s Company, will also be submitted to the equity markets review chaired by Professor John Kay.
In a statement the group said: “We are all committed to shareowner stewardship and have come together because we share concerns about the quality of stewardship in equity markets.”
Last month Kay’s interim report said many respondents felt quarterly company reporting encourages firms to pad the results with “useless or misleading” figures.