UK Stewardship Code

Thesis recognises the importance of good investment stewardship in creating long-term value for our clients and society at large, and in promoting the efficient and fair functioning of the financial markets. Although we have exercised our option not to comply with the FRC’s Stewardship Code, we have a robust investment process which seeks to achieve similar aims.

The members of our investment committee are an experienced, highly qualified and diverse group. They have access to sufficient qualitative and quantitative data sources to reach informed decisions. Debate and independent thought is encouraged and remuneration is not linked to investment performance. We have effective policies in place to manage conflicts of interest.

We monitor the assets in the portfolios we manage for their level of risk, including non-financial risk, and their alignment with the portfolio mandate and the needs and preferences of the underlying investors. We will engage with external fund managers and with companies where we believe that such action is in the interest of our investors, and are happy to cooperate with other firms in such activity. We will seek to vote on issues where we believe such action will potentially have a material impact on the risk or return of an investment, and will exercise other rights (including conversion and subscription rights) in the best interest of our clients.

Where we hold assets on a custody and execution basis we do not actively solicit client instructions in respect of any voting rights, but where possible will take action to allow clients to exercise such rights should they wish to. If there is a mandatory vote and we have not received instructions, we will take whatever action at our absolute discretion as we reasonably believe to be in the client’s best interests.