WHO WE ARE
A not-for-profit, practitioner-led membership organisation, set up by institutional investors in UK Equities. The Forum’s purpose is to position stewardship at the heart of investment decision-making by facilitating dialogue, creating long-term solutions and enhancing value.
Enhancing the practice of stewardship
Our approach is:
- Value-driven: we base collective engagement on economic rationale
- Discreet: we avoid unnecessary public confrontation
- Safe: we limit the legal and regulatory risks
- Constructive: we identify solutions
- Methodical: we have a consistent and robust process
- Best practice: we seek to enhance stewardship by investors and boards alike
We help investors:
- Realise long-term benefits for their clients
- Maximise their return on engagement effort
- Be confident that collective engagements will be safe, secure and discreet
- Demonstrate their commitment to stewardship activities to all stakeholders
- Contribute to the long-term success of UK-listed companies for the benefit of the broader economy
OUR PURPOSE
The Forum’s purpose is to position stewardship at the heart of investment decision-making by facilitating dialogue, creating long-term solutions and enhancing value.
Our History
In 2012, The Kay Review of UK equity markets and long-term decision-making recommended that ”an investors’ forum should be established to facilitate collective engagements by UK investors in UK companies”.
The Investor Forum was established in 2014 as a not-for-profit member organisation following the considerations of the Collective Engagement Working Group.
Kay Review (2012) obstacles to long-term engagement:
- A decline of trust and misalignment of incentives throughout the equity investment chain.
- Fragmentation has reduced the incentives for engagement and the level of control.
- Internationalisation of ownership with 54% of UK market owned by international investors.
- Perceived regulatory barriers inhibit collective engagement.
- A narrow engagement focus has crowded out discussion on fundamental drivers of long-term strategy and operational execution.
Taken together, this has contributed to an industry structure which too often favours exit over voice.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The independent Board of Directors is elected each year by the Forum’s Members at the Annual General Meeting.
The Board oversees the work of the Forum’s executive officers.
Michael McLintock | Oct 2021
Chair
Michael is Chair of Associated British Foods plc. Michael retired from M&G in 2016 having joined the company in 1992 and been appointed Chief Executive in 1997. In 1999 he oversaw the sale of M&G to Prudential plc where he served as an Executive Director from 2000 until 2016. Previously he held roles in investment management at Morgan Grenfell and in corporate finance at Morgan Grenfell and Barings. He is also a Trustee of the Grosvenor Estate, Chair of Grosvenor Group Limited, and a member of the Takeover Appeal Board.
Michael has a first-class honours degree in Modern History and Economics from Oxford University.
Paras Anand | Dec 2023
Paras is Chief Investment Officer at Artemis Investment Management, a Member firm. Before joining Artemis in 2022, Paras was CIO for all asset classes and functions across the Asia-Pacific region at Fidelity, based in Singapore, where he led the group’s strategy on sustainability and was global sponsor for cultural diversity. Prior to that he held a number of senior fund management roles in London and New York including Head of European Equities at F&C Investments. Paras serves on the Investment and Stewardship Committees of the Investment Association.
Paras Anand earned a Master of Arts degree in English Literature (British and Commonwealth) from the University of Bristol.
Ruth Beechey | March 2022
Ruth was Chief of Staff at UBS Global Asset Management UK, where she worked for 22 years until 2023. As a qualified lawyer, her previous roles include being Legal Counsel at UBS and Morgan Grenfell. She is currently an NED at Legal and General Assurance (Pensions Management) Ltd and Brown Advisory US Small Companies PLC.
Ruth earned her LLC at the Chester College of Law.
Elena Bignami | Dec 2024
Elena is Stewardship Manager at Man Group, a Member firm. In her role, she is responsible for developing Man Group’s investment stewardship strategy through effective advocacy, stakeholder management, engagement and proxy voting. Previously, Elena worked in the Sustainable & Responsible Investment arm of Mirabaud Asset Management and held various roles in the Governance and ESG businesses of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).
Elena graduated from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor’s degree in Environment and Development. Elena also holds a CEMS Masters in International Management.
Matthew Brazier | Dec 2024
Matt is Head of Investment Advisory at Invesco, a Member firm, where he works closely with the Henley equities teams on corporate governance, corporate engagement and company voting. He has specific responsibility for liaising with the fund managers and co-ordinating work on corporate governance, including voting and consultation over board remuneration, board and committee composition, succession, and diversity. He joined Invesco in 2013 as a senior lawyer, covering the Henley Investment Centre, and moved to the UK Equities team in 2017.
Matt started his career in 2001 as a lawyer in Sydney, before working as a corporate lawyer in London for 15 years. Matt graduated with a LLB (Honours) from the University of Tasmania.
Sir Peter Gershon | Jan 2018
Sir Peter has held senior executive and non-executive positions in public and private companies in healthcare, technology, defence and telecommunications industries. His previous senior board level appointments include Chair of National Grid plc, Chair of Premier Farnell plc, Chair of Tate & Lyle plc and Managing Director of Marconi Electronic Systems. Sir Peter also has experience of the public sector through his appointment as Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce and leading 3 independent reviews for the UK Government. He is currently chairman of the Dreadnought Alliance and enfinium Limited.
Sir Peter graduated from Cambridge University with a First in Mathematics. He was appointed a CBE for his services to industry in 2000 and knighted in 2004 for his work on public procurement. In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).
Justin Thomson | Dec 2024
Justin is the head of International Equity and a co-head of Global Equity at T Rowe Price, a Member firm. Justin is a member of the Management Committee, the chairman of the International Equity Steering Committee, and a member of the Asset Allocation and Environmental, Social, and Governance Committees. He also is the chief investment officer for International Equities. Justin is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and T. Rowe Price International Ltd.
From 1998 to 2020, he was the lead portfolio manager for the International Small-Cap Strategy. In 2008, he incepted the European Small-Cap Strategy and ran that until 2016. Prior to joining the firm, Justin was employed by G.T. Capital/LGT/Invesco as a portfolio manager.
Justin earned an M.A. in economics from Cambridge University.
Chris Kinder | Sep 2024
With over 20 years of experience as a UK-focused equity fund manager, Chris has managed a range of different fund types – including investment trusts and institutional and retail mandates. Most recently, he was a senior fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Chris brings a wealth of experience and insight and extensive connections across the UK equity market.
Chris holds a degree in Modern European Languages from Durham University, and qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC. Until recently he was an independent advisor to BBC Children in Need.
Alex Edmans | May 2022
Alex is Professor of Finance at London Business School, where he focuses on corporate
governance, responsible business and behavioural finance. Alex is a Director of the American Finance Association and Financial Management Association, and serves on Royal London Asset Management’s Responsible Investment Advisory Committee, the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing Advisory Board, and Novo Nordisk’s Sustainability Advisory Council. He is the author of “Grow the Pie”, “May Contain Lies”, and “Principles of Corporate Finance”.
Alex has a PhD from MIT as a Fulbright Scholar, and was previously a tenured professor at Wharton and an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.
Rupert Krefting | Dec 2024
Rupert is Head of Corporate Finance and Stewardship at M&G Investments, a Member firm. Rupert qualified as a chartered accountant (ACA) with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) then worked in investment banking for more than two decades, before joining M&G in 2016. Rupert is a Member of the Investment Association’s Stewardship Committee and Chairs the Corporate Reporting and Audit Group. At the IIGCC, he sits on the Corporate Programme Advisory Group, and is co-lead on a number of Climate Action 100+ engagements. He is a Member of the Pre-emption Group and serves on the UK Endorsement Board’s Investor Advisory Group.
Rupert graduated with a BA in Geography from the University of Southampton.
Kimberley Lewis | Dec 2024
Kim is Head of Active Ownership at Schroders, a Member firm. She has over 25 years experience in sustainability, law and public policy. Prior to joining Schroders, she served as the Director of North America Engagement for Federated Hermes EOS, International, where she led board and executive level engagements with a portfolio of companies on ESG and long-term business strategy issues. Before joining EOS, Kimberley was the Senior Director of Global Corporate Responsibility at Pfizer Inc, where she was responsible for driving Pfizer’s strategy for global public health and patient impact in underserved communities. Prior to that, she was the Director of Public Policy and Issues Management at AstraZeneca. She was also a senior advisor to Cherie Blair, where she played a key role in establishing the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.
Kim is a US-qualified attorney, with a BA and JD from the University of Virginia and holds an MA from London Business School, where she was a Sloan Fellow and Recipient of the Sloan Woman’s Scholarship.
Andrew Millington | Dec 2020
Andrew is Global Head of Equity Research and Investment Process at abrdn, a Member firm. Andrew was previously Head of UK Equities at ASI, after starting his career at Baillie Gifford. He is a Trustee of Cattanach, a Scottish grant making charity, and a member of the IA Investment Committee.
Andrew graduated with a BA in Modern History from Oxford University.
Valeria Piani | Dec 2024
Valeria is Head of Stewardship at Phoenix Group, a Member firm. Valeria joined in September 2021 to lead the in-house stewardship team and collaborate with Phoenix’s Asset Management partners to influence ESG performance by investee companies. She has over 17 years of experience in the industry and has held a number of senior positions at different firms. She joined UBS Asset Management in 2017 as Strategic Engagement Lead responsible for the manager’s climate change engagement programme, stewardship reporting and integration research in the industrial sector. Prior to this, Valeria worked for nine years as Associate Director at the UNPRI coordinating investor collaborative engagement activities with companies on a range of ESG issues. In addition to being a member of the CA100+ Global Steering Committee, Valeria is also a member of the IIGCC Advisory Group of Corporate Programme, the PRI Advisory Committee of Advance and the NZAOA Engagement Track.
Valeria graduated from the Università Bocconi, Milan with a degree in development economics, and has a Master Degree from Nottingham University Business School on Corporate Social Responsibility.
John Teahan | Dec 2024
John is a portfolio manager at Redwheel, a Member firm. He joined Redwheel in 2010 as a Partner within the Redwheel Value & Income team. He has a particular focus on engagement, including with carbon intensive companies and is involved in a number of ClimateAction 100+ collaborations. He currently hosts the CFA UK Climate Change Podcast Series. Prior to joining Redwheel, John worked as a Fund Manager at Schroders and started his career in 2000 at Bank of Ireland Asset Management.
John studied economics and politics in Trinity College, Dublin and holds an M.A. (Dubl.). He is a CFA Charterholder.
LEGAL PANEL
Since inception, the Investor Forum has received extensive pro bono support from a number of leading law firms.
The Forum’s Legal Panel plays a key role in helping the Forum maintain operating procedures which create a safe and secure legal and regulatory environment in which to undertake collective engagement.
