"New guidelines force pension funds to reveal shareholder voting records"

Pension funds and asset managers will have to disclose their shareholder voting records on issues including the climate crisis, as part of UK guidelines that will come into force in January [2020].

The revamped stewardship code means firms will have to publish annual reports showing they have taken environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into account when investing and engaging with companies.

[The 289] Signatories [to the Financial Reporting Council] will have to prove they took appropriate action in the preceding 12 months by publishing their full shareholder voting records. They will also have to explain the rationale behind their voting decisions and outline how they are responding to systemic risks such as the climate emergency.

Those who fail to comply risk being shamed by ejection from the public list of signatories to the code....

The first set of annual reports will cover signatories’ actions in 2020, with the first disclosures due in 2021.