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The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has revealed the list of signatories to the UK Stewardship Code following its Spring 2022 assessment.
It is reported that after the extensive review process which considered organisations’ investment styles, sizes and types, 43 new signatories were added, taking the total number of signatories to 236, with assets under management (AUM) of £40.7tn, an increase from £33.3tn.
Signatories include the likes of Allianz Global Investors, Cohen and Steers UK Limited, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, NatWest Group Pension Fund, and Northern Trust Asset Management.
The Code is said to set high standards of stewardship for those investing money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners, and the continued growth in the number of applicants and successful signatories shows the value that investors and their clients and beneficiaries in the UK and beyond give to the Code.
In addition, it is also encouraging that signatories who were reporting for their second year, having first applied in 2021, had in most cases used the feedback they received to improve their reporting this year. The FRC saw improvements in several areas, such as the quality of activity and outcome reporting for engagement, collaboration and escalation.
However, according to the FRC, there still needs to be greater emphasis by signatories on reporting their activities and outcomes during the reporting period, using both quantitative and qualitative evidence, as the council will increase focus on this area in future assessment updates.
Mark Babington, executive director of regulatory standards, said: “I congratulate the new and returning signatories to the UK Stewardship Code. It’s also great to see improvements in how organisations are evidencing their stewardship each year and more tailored explanations on how they apply the Code to demonstrate their stewardship activity and outcomes effectively.
“Using our feedback to provide clear, comprehensive and outcome-based reporting is what the spirit of the Code is all about and why it is considered the gold standard for stewardship across the globe.”
