WHEB Asset Management is proud to announce that it has successfully renewed its status as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code, reinforcing its commitment to responsible investment and effective stewardship practices.
The UK Stewardship Code, established by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), sets high standards for asset managers to ensure they act in the best interests of their clients and beneficiaries. It promotes responsible investing practices that consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, aiming to create long-term value for shareholders and positive outcomes for society.
WHEB’s renewal as a signatory to the Stewardship Code highlights its dedication to maintaining the highest standards of transparency, accountability, and active ownership.
This achievement underscores WHEB’s ongoing efforts to integrate ESG considerations into its investment processes and engage with portfolio companies to drive sustainable growth and positive change.
For WHEB, stewardship is central to how it achieves an investor contribution to enabling positive impacts and outcomes. Not just for the environment and broader society, but for the long-term financial success of its investee companies. Insights gleaned through stewardship and engagement activities also enrich the teams’ investment research and decision making.
Rachael Monteiro, Stewardship Analyst at WHEB, commented on the renewal:
“We are delighted that WHEB’s signatory status has once again been renewed. The Code has been pivotal for defining high-level principles of effective stewardship and promoting responsible investment practices. This is evidenced by its replication in other jurisdictions.
As highlighted in WHEB’s latest Impact Report, there has emerged an “unintentional stewardship stampede”. Driven by regulatory requirements, the industry has become fixated on stewardship activity metrics. This can result in an approach to stewardship that favours quantity over quality and exacerbates reporting burdens.
Instead, we believe that assessments of effectiveness should focus on whether the approach is high-quality, pragmatic and driven by outcomes that create long-term value.
The FRC’s ongoing review of the UK Stewardship Code is therefore a welcome development and we hope to see a revised Code published early in 2025 that promotes intelligent guidelines for assessing stewardship effectiveness.”
As a signatory to the Stewardship Code, WHEB will continue to uphold its responsibilities by engaging with companies on material and systemic sustainability issues, exercising voting rights diligently, and reporting transparently on its stewardship activities. WHEB remains dedicated to advocating for positive change and supporting companies in their journey towards sustainability.
For more information about WHEB’s approach to responsible investment and stewardship, visit our Stewardship webpages.