Institutional Investor Stewardship in the UK and Malaysia: Functionally Similar, Contextually Different

Abstract

Institutional investors are acknowledged as an influential force worldwide as a result of their large shareholdings and ownership of public equity. Arising from a focus on their investing and shareholding practices and their impact on the listed companies which they have invested in as well as on the economy and society overall, stewardship codes have been introduced in the UK and Malaysia to promote their role as stewards. The key objective of this paper is to evaluate the theoretical and practical issues relating to the relatively recent phenomenon of stewardship of institutional investors in Malaysia through functional and contextual lenses as juxtaposed against the more established practice of stewardship in the UK. It is argued that notwithstanding a similar legal framework for shareholder rights and substantial similarities with regard to the content of the UK Stewardship Code and the Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors and its status as soft law, the market structure and political economic factors which are unique to Malaysia represent a constraint on the effectiveness of the Malaysian Code for Institutional Investors in shaping the practices of institutional investors in Malaysia. As such, recommendations to address issues pertaining to the stewardship of institutional investors in the Malaysian context would need to take into account the theoretical and contextual constraints, although insights may be gained from examining structural issues in the investment industry in the UK.