Questions for your Manager - January 2016

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association publishes monthly topical questions to aid trustees in considering the effectiveness of their managers’ stewardship activity. We encourage funds to ask these questions during their regular manager reviews in an effort to understand their managers’ approaches and activities and to ensure that they are adhering to the stewardship policies.

JANUARY'S TOPICAL QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MANAGER

1. Research from the High Pay Centre found that by the second working day of the year, a FTSE 100 CEO will have already made more money in 2016 than the average UK worker will earn all year. Do you compare the ratio between total pay awarded to executives and the pay of the average worker at investee companies? Do you think this ratio is important, and if so, what would you consider appropriate for particular sectors?
   
2. UK companies often operate ‘joint ventures’ with partners overseas. Sometimes the governance structures of these joint ventures limits partners’ oversight of their day to day operation, making it harder to ensure appropriate standards of good governance and respect for human rights, health and safety or environmental footprint. What major joint ventures are operated by investee companies, and what oversight do they have of the governance of these companies?

Read previous month's questions here.