Shareholders Rights Directive

Introduction

Aptior Capital LLP (“Aptior” or “Firm”) is an investment management and advisory firm which is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) to undertake discretionary investment management and advisory activities as a full-scope UK Alternative Investment Fund Manager (“AIFM”) with top-up MIFID permissions. Aptior has been categorised by the FCA as a Collective Portfolio Management Investment (“CPMI”) firm.

SRD II

Article 3g of SRD II, which is summarised in the FCA Handbook under COBS 2.2B, requires a firm such as Aptior to either:

  • develop and disclose an engagement policy describing how the firm integrates shareholder engagement in its investment strategy; or
  • disclose why the firm has chosen not to comply with those requirements.

Such an engagement policy requires a firm to describe how it:

  • integrates shareholder engagement in its investment strategy:
  • monitors investee companies on relevant matters, including:
  • strategy
  • financial and non-financial performance and risk
  • capital structure
  • social and environmental impact and corporate governance
  • conducts dialogues with investee companies;
  • exercises voting rights and other rights attached to shares;
  • cooperates with other shareholders;
  • communicates with relevant stakeholders of the investee companies; and
  • manages actual and potential conflicts of interests in relation to the firm’s engagement.

The above engagement policy is limited to the extent that a firm invests on behalf of investors in shares traded on a regulated market (or on third country markets that meet comparable requirements and where the shares dealt in are of a quality comparable to those in a regulated market in the UK).

Aptior’s Approach to Engagement

The firm’s investment strategy is focused on special situation credit, distressed debt, and rescue finance investments. Whilst the firm may invest in shares traded on a regulated market (or comparable market), the resultant holdings are of an insignificant size and voting power to the extent that the firm does not actively engage with investee companies.

While Aptior generally supports the objectives that underlie SRD II, for the above reason the firm has chosen not to produce an engagement policy at this time.