KAY’S PROPOSALS
Long-term directors’ incentives should only be provided in the form of shares to be held until after the executive has retired from the business.
Mandatory quarterly reporting of company results should be ended.
An investors’ forum should be established to allow collective engagement by investors in UK firms.
Companies should consult large long-term investors on major board appointments.
The stewardship code should focus on strategic issues as well as questions of corporate governance.
Company directors, asset managers and asset holders should adopt good practice statements that promote long-term decision making.
Regulators should apply fiduciary standards – the highest duty of care – to anyone who exercises discretion over the investments of others.
The Law Commission should review the concept of fiduciary duty to address misunderstandings on the part of trustees and their advisers.
Asset managers should make full disclosure of all costs, including actual or estimated transaction costs, and performance fees charged to the fund.
The pay of fund managers should also be linked to long-term performance.
There should be an independent review into the financial data used in the investment chain to highlight its uses and limitations.
The government should explore the most cost effective means for individual investors to hold shares directly on an electronic register.