Financial Reporting Council Publishes Guidance for Reporting Under the UK Stewardship Code 2026

Key Takeaways

• Final Guidance Issued: The Financial Reporting Council has finalised its reporting guidance for the UK Stewardship Code 2026 following industry consultation.
• Optional Framework: The guidance is voluntary and intended to support clarity and consistency in how signatories explain their stewardship approach.
• Focus on Practical Disclosure: It sets out expectations for both policy context and activities, encouraging firms to report progress, lessons learned, and real outcomes.

Deep Dive

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published its final guidance to help organizations report under the UK Stewardship Code 2026, following stakeholder feedback on a draft version released in June.

The guidance is designed to support applicants preparing their stewardship reports but is optional and non-prescriptive. It provides practical suggestions for the kinds of information organizations may wish to include to better explain their approach to stewardship. The FRC said the intent is to make reporting clearer and more useful without creating additional requirements or imposing a one-size-fits-all model.

The Stewardship Code, first introduced in 2010 and most recently updated in June 2025, sets out principles for how asset owners, asset managers, and service providers should demonstrate effective stewardship and responsible investment practices. It aims to promote transparency, accountability, and long-term sustainable value creation across the investment chain.

The FRC said it received a wide range of comments on the draft guidance earlier this year and made amendments to reflect industry feedback before finalizing the document. “We are grateful to all those who provided comments and engaged with us on this process,” the regulator said in its announcement.

The new guidance is split into two main parts, the Policy and Context Disclosure and the Activities and Outcomes Report. The first section helps firms set out their organizational purpose, investment beliefs, and stewardship structures, while the second focuses on the actions taken and their results.

Unlike more rigid frameworks, the FRC encourages signatories to discuss not only successful engagements but also ongoing efforts or lessons learned where progress is still being made. For instance, an outcome could include an investment decision informed by stewardship activities, whether that decision was to buy, sell, hold, or avoid a company.

The guidance also recognises the diverse ways stewardship is carried out depending on an organization’s size, structure, and asset mix. It includes detailed advice for asset owners, asset managers, and stewardship service providers such as proxy advisers, investment consultants, and engagement firms. For these providers, the FRC highlights the importance of clear governance, client dialogue, conflict-of-interest management, and oversight of services like proxy voting and engagement activities.

Throughout 2026, the FRC plans to continue working closely with signatories as they transition to reporting under the updated Code, which sets higher expectations for transparency and accountability in the stewardship of UK assets. The regulator has also published additional materials on how to report, aimed at helping firms prepare for the upcoming reporting cycle.

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