“We welcome the updated version of the UK Stewardship Code for its flexibility, reduced reporting burden and simpler definition of stewardship.
“However, there are some areas where we wanted to see more, such as asset managers demonstrating that voting decisions link back to the professionals that allocate capital.
“In terms of proxy advisers, the impetus for asset managers to hold their service providers to account is a good one but the emphasis on communication with clients underplays how essential the companies are in this process.
“Our members find proxy advisers to be inconsistent in their approach and very often unresponsive when challenged. I dearly hope the new Code improves behaviours to alleviate these engrained problems and unclog this bottleneck to growth. But I suspect we must turn our attention to the Financial Conduct Authority regulation of these firms to see if can effect a step-change in how they operate.”
