Questions for your Manager - February 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.

FEBRUARY'S TOPICAL QUESTIONS FOR YOUR MANAGER

1. Leading investor James Anderson has called on Google to pay more tax in the UK, saying it is in the company’s long-term interest. Do you have a position on whether or not it is in the interests of google and other such companies to aggressively minimise their UK tax bill, and have you engaged with companies on this issue?
2. James Murdoch’s re-appointment as Chairman of Sky has been questioned by some investors, with the media highlighting criticism of his conduct in his previous stint as Chair and the conflict of interest owing to his role at major shareholder Fox. Do you support James Murdoch’s appointment and what criteria do you use for assessing the integrity and objectivity of board members at investee companies?

Read previous month's questions here.