Since AMAS and Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF) have published the Swiss Stewardship Code in 2023 Asset Managers, Investors, Asset Owners and Service Providers are rapidly expanding their activities in investment stewardship and engagement.

At the same time AMAS and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) have jointly held several workshops and roundtables on stewardship to provide for a platform for investors to convene, share practices, exchange on challenges faced and explore solutions collaboratively.

Based on these roundtables AMAS and PRI present the publication “Swiss Stewardship in Practice”. It summarises the lessons, practices, key insights and challenges of the participants (asset owners, investment managers and service providers) engaging in stewardship and engagement.

Thus the publication covers the following focus topics:

• getting started with stewardship

• voting

• individual engagement

• collaborative engagement

• policy engagement

• escalation strategies

The publication seeks to capture and document the key insights shared at the AMAS-PRI stewardship events. It represents a deposit of the key resources, topic discussions and practices shared, evoked or discussed during the roundtables. The case studies documented in this handout are based on presentations delivered by PRI signatories or AMAS members during the different workshops. They were written by guest contributors in their individual capacity – the case studies do not necessarily represent a PRI or an AMAS view.

The "Swiss Stewardship Code" provides guidance for asset managers, asset owners and financial service providers. It was drawn up by the Asset Management Association Switzerland and Swiss Sustainable Finance to promote the active exercise of shareholder rights by investors in Switzerland. Investor stewardship is fundamental to effective investing and to the promotion of sustainable enterprises.

Through sustainable investments, more and more investors in Switzerland are committed to making a significant contribution to achieving the sustainability targets set by the Federal Council, in the process positioning Switzerland as a leading hub for sustainable finance. Sustainable financial investments and services not only help reduce investment risks, but also positively support desired economic, societal and environmental changes. Investor stewardship, which requires active dialogue with companies and the exercising of investor voting rights, is a key approach for achieving this goal and is becoming increasingly important not just in Switzerland, but on an international level.

AMAS and SSF, supported by pension funds, asset managers and service providers, have responded by developing the Swiss Stewardship Code as the standard for the Swiss financial centre. The Code defines what contemporary investor stewardship entails and lays the foundation for more proactive exercising of shareholder voting rights by Swiss financial actors, as well as providing greater transparency and improved comparability.

Integrating stewardship into the investment processes of the Swiss investment industry promotes a more sustainable and value-enhancing economy, and also helps increase the long-term return for investors, adjusted for sustainability risks. The Code consequently makes an important contribution to the measures for a sustainable financial centre outlined by the Federal Council.

The Swiss Stewardship Code is applicable on a voluntary basis and serves as a recommendation and guidance for integrating stewardship into the investment process. The Code includes nine stewardship principles and describes the most important elements for effective and successful implementation. It is aligned with the Global Stewardship Principles of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the UK Stewardship Code, which together set an international benchmark for investors’ stewardship activities.

The Swiss Stewardship Code is being endorsed by the proxy service advisory companies Glass, Lewis & Co. and ISS as well as the Ethos Foundation.

Recommandation for stakeholders

AMAS and SSF recommend investors and service providers to publicly disclose their commitment to the Swiss Stewardship Code on their website and in their stewardship report and use the following wording:

“The Swiss Stewardship Code provides guidance to asset managers, asset owners and service providers for more stewardship across the Swiss investment industry while offering a framework that leads to better comparability. As [NAME OF COMPANY], [Asset Owner/Asset Manager/Service Provider], we are conducting our stewardship activities according to [the 9 principles / principles X, Y and Z] of the Swiss Stewardship Code.

[If not implementation the 9 principles]: The rationale for the limitation of the implementation on principles [X, Y and Z] is the following: [XXX].] “

Kindly note that stakeholders remain responsible for publishing their statement. The names of the institutions using this template will not be published on the AMAS and SSF websites to mitigate reputational risks (AMAS and SSF do not monitor SSC implementation).