The South African Times has reported that a 'group of stakeholders within the investor community have with the assistance of The Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA) convened a committee for the drafting of a code for responsible shareholder investing'.

The new Code is expected to supplement the existing King III Corporate Governance Code and be addressed to institutional investors. The  new Code will deal with matters such as accountability of institutional investors to the ultimate beneficiaries of these investments, engagement with investee companies, consideration of environmental, social and governance issues, voting and disclosure.

The committee is chaired by John Oliphant from the South African Government Employees Pension Fund, while other members reportedly include representatives from the Association for Saving and Investment SA (ASISA), IoDSA, JSE Limited, Cadiz; Element Investment Managers, Investec Asset Management, Mergence, Old Mutual, Public Investment Corporation, Principle Officers Association, Prudential, Regarding Capital Management and the Securities Regulation Panel.

The inclusive nature of the committee is to be lauded and the draft Code is expected later this year.

Further Reading

First investors' code for SA