Standardised framework for a more ambitious and consistent use of escalation tools by asset managers | ShareAction

Yesterday, ShareAction, the responsible investment charity, launched its second guidance paper in its Responsible Investment Standards and Expectations (RISE) series aiming to bring clarity and ambition to responsible investment. The latest paper addresses the critical issue of asset managers failing to engage robustly with the companies that they invest in.Asset managers often talk about the quality of their engagement with companies - sometimes to justify a weak voting record or the absence of robust investment policies. However quality engagement should include a robust use of escalation, and at the moment it’s very difficult to see how, and to what extent, asset managers are escalating with their investee companies. A ShareAction review of stewardship and sustainability reports of 50 of the world's largest asset managers reveals limited disclosure on the use and outcomes of escalation.Despite asset managers generally disclosing some elements of escalation, for example their voting activity, what this reporting fails to do is fully capture the breadth, depth and quality of engagement.ShareAction is therefore proposing a standardised framework for escalation which will allow:

• Clients and other stakeholders to assess and compare how asset managers are using escalation tools;
• Companies to understand how their strategic choices will affect their relationship with investors and how it might impact access to capital;
• Investors and other stakeholders to identify overlapping goals and common purposes;

Other asset managers to be spurred to a more ambitious, consistent use of escalation tools to guide companies onto a path that benefits people and planet.

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Have you already read? Raising responsible investment best practice in asset management: Guidance manuals | ShareAction

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The escalation policy paper additionally calls for asset managers to ensure they resource their escalation capacity appropriately, concluding that escalation policies are only as good as the systems that underpin them.

“Its importance is well recognised, for instance by the Financial Reporting Council in their Stewardship Code. Unfortunately, the use of escalation is inconsistent and often ineffective. Further, disclosure of escalation is poor and therefore stakeholders cannot assess and compare how effectively asset managers are using this vital tool.

“Our paper lays out a standardised framework for a more ambitious and consistent use of escalation tools, supported by improved reporting. We urge asset managers to adopt this framework so that escalation is more transparent and delivers better results.”

-Niall Considine, Head of Investor Standards

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