October 16, 2012 Stewardship consultation launched
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), in conjunction with the Investor Stewardship Working Party, has launched a consultation on stewardship entitled ‘Improving Engagement Practices by Companies and Institutional Investors’.
The ICSA has established a Steering Group, chaired by Sir John Egan, (former chair of Severn Trent plc), who have the aim of developing a good practice guide to improve the quality of engagement activity and identify ways for investors and companies to engage and feedback on the quality of meetings.
To this end, they have launched the consultation which covers the following areas:
• whether the nature of the discussion between a company and its investors needed to change, with more emphasis on a dialogue which built and encouraged a long-term relationship with, and commitment to, the company;
• what improvements can be made to the process of holding engagement meetings; and
• whether companies and institutional investors should seek feedback on the quality of meetings, and how that might be most effectively done.
The full consultation document can be found here.
‘The steering group is firmly of the view that the health of the engagement process is one of the drivers which increases alignment between a company and its owners, and that transforming the engagement interaction can create value for both parties.’ stated Sir John Egan commenting on the consultation.
