Backing for the UK Stewardship Code has continued to grow over the past year, as the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) confirmed that there are now 297 signatories to the code, representing £52.3trn in assets under management.

Following the latest round of applications in autumn 2024, the FRC revealed that the list of signatories now includes 199 asset managers, 77 asset owners and 21 service providers.

New signatories to the code include Quantum Advisory, Access Pool, a number of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds, and IFM Investors.

Quantum Advisory senior investment consultant and head of ESG, Jayna Bhullar, highlighted the news that it had become a signatory to the code as recognition of the "expertise and credibility" of the team at Quantum.

“We’ve always been dedicated to this area, so it’s especially rewarding to have an independent third-party review confirm that our policies and processes are best in class," she added. "The code’s standards are extremely high, and we’re thrilled to have met them."

The FRC said it was also "encouraged" to see some signatories take up the voluntary interim reporting measures introduced in July, which helped to reduce the length of their reports as intended.

“It’s great to see the number of signatories to the UK Stewardship Code continuing to grow and even better to see that some have already begun to apply the measures we introduced last summer, which has had the desired outcome of shorter reports," FRC executive director of regulatory standards, Mark Babington, said.

The FRC is also currently consulting formally on its proposals to amend the UK Stewardship Code, including changes to amend the definition of stewardship and reduce industry reporting requirements.

Following the consultation, the FRC plans to publish an updated code that will come into effect in 2026.

However, it confirmed that those submitting reports this year should continue reporting to the 2020 code.

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