Raising the bar for Master Trusts

Steps are being taken to raise the bar on Master Trust activities in the absence of legislative requirements.

Master Trust trustees are aware that there are already stringent regulations in place for Master Trust trustees to deliver national economic growth, and undertake effective investment stewardship to drive real-world change. There is now additional encouragement on voluntary adherence to all the principles of the Effective System of Governance (ESOG) processes. The ESOG principles of compliance are as follows:

• Management of activities.
• Organisational structure.
• Investment matters.
• Communications and disclosure.

While there is no obligation for Master Trust trustees to comply with ESOG, it is suggested that compliance with it could result in better governance, and could maintain savers' confidence in the trust.