The general view was ‘very positive’ about the impact of the Code and there was strong evidence of material changes to practice in the areas of governance, resourcing, stewardship activities, outcomes and reporting, according to research commissioned by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which surveyed 55 asset managers and owners.

However, respondents had issues with reporting requirements, particularly how to demonstrate specific tangible outcomes and achievements with many turning to case studies to illustrate performance. Other reporting barriers, experienced by over 60% of the sample included problems with data quality, a lack of agreed standards and the time taken to produce reports. At the same time, they noted that it is often difficult to match qualitative descriptions to quantifiable outcomes because of the lack of a single reporting metric.