The Board attaches great importance to ensuring that the Company operates to high ethical and compliance standards. In addition, the Board seeks to observe the principles set out in the AIC Code of Corporate Governance, established specifically for investment trust companies and endorsed by the Financial Reporting Council. By following the Code, the Company continues to meet its obligations in relation to the FRC’s UK Corporate Governance Code.
Stewardship/Engagement
As a major asset owner, the portfolio manager and investment team recognise their wider stewardship responsibilities to their clients.
To this end, they support the introduction of the FRC Stewardship Code which sets out the responsibilities of institutional shareholders in respect of the companies they invest in.
The investment team endorses the Stewardship Code for its UK investments and supports the principles as best practice elsewhere. The portfolio managers believe that regular contact with the companies in which they invest is central to their investment process and recognise the importance of being an ‘active’ owner on behalf of their clients.
The portfolio managers believe that companies should act in a socially responsible manner. Although their priority at all times is the best economic interests of their clients, they recognise that, increasingly, non-financial issues such as social and environmental factors have the potential to impact the share price, as well as the reputation of companies. Specialists within RWC’s environmental, social and governance team are tasked with assessing how companies deal with and report on social and environmental risks and issues specific to their industry.
Expansion of sustainable value
The Board believes that any investment made for the long term must be in businesses that are run in line with sustainable principles and this is how it has instructed RWC to run the investment portfolio of Temple Bar. By ‘sustainable value’ we mean we will seek to find a subset of value stocks where there is a business model that is sustainable in all senses for the longer term, i.e. the manager will invest in companies which it believes will be profitable in 5 or 10 years’ time even against the background of global pandemics and climate change. This is an approach RWC has adopted for many years, it feels the sustainable aspect is key to long-term investing, as highlighted in the selection/research process.
Independence of Directors
Each of the Directors is independent of any association with the manager and has no other relationships or circumstances which might be perceived to interfere with the exercise of independent judgement.
Audit & Risk Committee
Terms of reference governing the operation of the committee can be found here.
Voting
The Annual General Meeting of Temple Bar Investment Trust PLC was held on 9 May 2023.
All resolutions were passed.
Nomination Committee
Terms of reference governing the operation of the committee can be found here.
Tax evasion
The Board of Temple Bar is committed to zero tolerance towards the criminal facilitation of tax evasion.
Management Engagement Committee
Terms of reference governing the operation of the committee can be found here.
Matters reserved for the Board
The schedule of matters reserved for the Board can be found here.
Responsibilities of the Chairman
The responsibilities of the Chairman can be found here.
How to Invest
The Company’s shares are traded openly on the London Stock Exchange and can be purchased through a stock broker or other financial intermediary.