EFG Harris Allday supports the objectives that underlie the Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II). Under SRD II when delivering Wealth Management discretionary services, we are required to either create and publish a detailed Engagement Policy or explain why we have chosen not to produce an Engagement Policy.
It is our view that an Engagement Policy is less relevant to firms providing discretionary services to retail clients where the proportion of shares held in investee companies is much lower than those held by large institutional investors. As such we are do not engage with investee companies in the same manner as other large institutional clients may, such as pension funds or investment funds, to the extent envisaged by SRD II. Therefore, we do not believe it is currently appropriate to establish a formal Engagement Policy.
