Stewardship regulators: Compliance or catalyst?

Sustainable Finance Roadmap Recommendation 3: Governance

Introduce a Stewardship Code for financial institutions and link this to the licensing requirements of KiwiSaver and managed fund providers.

In May Claudia Chapman, Head of Stewardship at the UK Financial Reporting Council, joined Paul Chandler (Director of Stewardship, Principles for Responsible Investment), and Anne-Maree O'Connor (Head of Responsible Investment, NZ Super Fund) at an open panel event to discuss Stewardship Regulators: Compliance or Catalyst?

A strong call for support of collaborative engagement came through from investors.

Issues around resourcing and capability building for effective investor stewardship - both in Aotearoa New Zealand and other jurisdictions - were also raised. It was observed that collaboration can reduce the resource burden.

Another challenge discussed was making reporting on stewardship activities and outcomes useful, proportionate and apposite for the reporting entity.

We were also pleased to get positive feedback from Claudia Chapman on the extensive consultation process behind the Code's development, which produced a code tailored to the unique needs and conditions of Aotearoa New Zealand. Thanks to the Code development committee.

We supported the event with Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA), and the Aotearoa New Zealand Stewardship Code.

The Centre is partnering with RIAA to deliver the stewardship workstream, and we have recently appointed a Governance Committee to oversee the work alongside the Stewardship Code Secretariat. The Code currently has 17 signatories.