Glass Lewis is pleased to announce that it has successfully renewed its status as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code.
The UK Stewardship Code 2020 “sets high stewardship standards for asset owners and asset managers, and for service providers that support them.” The Code recognizes that “[s]ervice providers play a key role in the investment community as they provide services that support clients to fulfil their stewardship responsibilities.”
In light of that key role, the Code requires such service providers to annually report against six Principles for effective stewardship, covering their purpose, governance, and management of conflicts of interest, as well as how they promote well-functioning financial markets, support their clients’ stewardship, and how they review and assure their internal policies and processes. Service provider signatories are required to annually report against these principles to the UK Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) on an apply and explain basis. Stewardship Code reports are then assessed by the FRC and service providers that meet the reporting expectations are accepted as signatories.
Glass Lewis is proud of its long-standing work to help our clients fulfill their stewardship responsibilities and to have that work reflected in our status as a Stewardship Code signatory. As we said in our 2022 Report, “Glass Lewis is dedicated to supporting the creation and preservation of long-term shareholder value through best-in-class proxy voting solutions and high quality, independent analysis of governance, environmental, social, finance, accounting, legal, and reputational risks at public companies worldwide.”
Our Stewardship Report discusses in detail how our policies and programs meet each of the Stewardship Code’s Principles. The Report also describes how Glass Lewis has enhanced its existing offerings and launched new services, such as the Engagement Management Platform, to help our clients record, track, and report on their engagement activities and therefore be more effective stewards.
Read our full 2022 UK Stewardship Report on the FRC website or under the Compliance tab on the Glass Lewis website.