The Investment and Financial Services Association (IFSA) has come out fighting against the Federal Opposition’s policy that would require fund managers and super trustees to disclose how they voted on the resolutions of companies they have invested in.

IFSA CEO Richard Gilbert says he wasn’t consulted during the development of the policy and he’s not aware of any industry organisation that supports it.

He told Sunrise Exchange News that fund managers already report to super trustees on their voting choices and it is often a contractual requirement to do so. But any future ALP government requirement for fund managers to publicly disclose how they voted “will impose unnecessary costs on investors who will be largely paying for indigestible information”. 

“Issues such as these need broad consultation before they are floated,” Mr Gilbert said. “Otherwise, they can have harsh and unintended consequences, and this case could fly in the face of getting better corporate governance.”