Investor & Issuer Forum: Cross-Industry Engagement and Market Development
Investor & Issuer Forum
The Investor & Issuer Forum (I&IF) continues to bring together stakeholders across the investment chain to support a more coherent and constructive discussion about the strengths, challenges and future competitiveness of UK equity markets.
Cross-Industry Collaboration
The I&IF’s Cross-Industry Stakeholder Forum works with Pensions UK, Railpen, the IA, CBI, QCA, the IR Society, Lloyds Banking Group, Thomson Reuters and Standard Life plc. Bringing together representatives from asset owners, asset managers and companies, the Forum is developing areas of common ground on the UK market narrative and the actions needed to support its long-term attractiveness and competitiveness.
Current priorities include coordinating cross-investment-chain input into the Government’s Modernising Corporate Reporting (MCR) consultation and identifying areas of alignment between investors and issuers to communicate a clear, shared message to government.
Engagement and Events
Alongside this work, the I&IF is delivering a broader programme of engagement to improve understanding of the investment ecosystem and support constructive dialogue across the market. Key activities include:
- Inside the Voting Ecosystem (weekly through October and November): A series of showcases offering insights into how voting policy, vote implementation and voting technology are evolving. Sessions are scheduled with Glass Lewis & Co., ISS, Proxymity, Tumelo, Broadridge, Pennant and others.
- Government, Regulators and the Investment Chain (9 November): Hosted by Deloitte, this event will examine the implications of the MCR consultation and the respective roles of the FCA, FRC and TPR in taking forward the Government’s reform agenda.
- Audit, Assurance and Corporate Reporting (30 November): Working with ACCIF and GGIC, the I&IF is bringing investors, companies, audit committee chairs and auditors together to consider how the audit, assurance and corporate-reporting system can become more streamlined and decision-useful. A roundtable will be hosted by Railpen.
Strengthening Investor-Issuer Engagement
Research undertaken with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) brought asset owners, asset managers, companies and advisers together to identify practical ways to strengthen relationships and reduce friction between investors and issuers.
Five priorities emerged: clarity about the purpose of engagement; understanding different perspectives and mandates; better connections across the investment chain; ensuring conversations involve the right people and lead to follow-through; and focusing on outcomes rather than activity alone.
The I&IF will now consider how these findings can be translated into practical guidance.
Tokenisation
The I&IF has submitted its response to the FCA’s discussion paper on tokenisation, helping to build understanding of the opportunities and challenges for issuers, investors and market infrastructure.
The I&IF will continue to monitor the FCA’s feedback and subsequent work with the Bank of England on the digital roadmap for tokenisation, assessing where further cross-industry engagement could add value.
Top Takeaways
- Building a shared narrative for UK equity markets by identifying common ground between investors and issuers on long-term competitiveness and supporting engagement with government.
- Bringing stakeholders together on reform to explore how corporate reporting, audit and assurance can become more streamlined and decision-useful.
- Improving understanding across the investment chain through engagement on voting practices, policy and technology.
- Supporting more effective investor–issuer relationships by translating research findings into practical guidance for constructive, outcome-focused engagement.
- Contributing to the future of market infrastructure through continued engagement on tokenisation and its implications for the investment ecosystem.
Vindhya is a Research Associate at the Investor & Issuer Forum. She holds an MSc in Political Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a BA in Political Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Vindhya has extensive research experience in the social sciences, with a particular interest in economic policy and governance.