The shareholder priorities, which are issued annually in advance of the AGM season, outline the five key areas that investment managers have identified as critical drivers of long-term value for companies:

• Responding to climate change;
• Accounting for climate change;
• Stakeholder engagement;
• Diversity; and
• Audit quality.

Linked to these priorities is the IVIS (Institutional Voting Information Service) approach to analysing these issues.  IVIS will analyse UK listed companies against these priorities and the broader IA guidelines to provide information to help shareholders reach a decision on how to vote at company AGMs.  The publication indicates that IVIS will:

• Amber top all corporate companies that do not make disclosures against the four pillars of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
• Red top FTSE 100 companies that have not met the Parker Review target of one director from a minority ethnic group.
• Amber top FTSE 250 companies that do not disclose either the ethnic diversity of their board or a credible action plan to achieve the Parker Review targets by 2024.
• Red top FTSE 350 companies where women represent:
  • 33.0% or less of the Board
  • 28.0% or less of the Executive Committee and their direct reports
• Red top FTSE Small Cap companies where women represent:
  • 25.0% or less of the Board.
  • 25.0% or less of the Executive Committee

The Shareholder Priorities build on the Principles of Remuneration, published in late 2021, which outline investment managers expectations on company executive pay and pensions.

A press release and the full publication are available on the Investment Association website.