Investors back single set of rules
Institutional investors are more concerned by the quality of company accounts than anything else, with an emphatic majority voting for a single set of global accounting rules, according to research published today.
Strong support for including executives’ share options in the profit and loss account was also found in the survey of over 200 institutional investors in 31 countries. The survey was conducted by McKinsey, the consultancy firm, in April and May.
More than three-quarters of investors said they were prepared to pay a premium for well-governed companies citing the quality of a company’s corporate governance, including the effectiveness of boards of directors, as the most important factors when looking to invest.
Ninety percent of those interviewed backed a single set of accounting standards, but they disagreed over whether it should be international accounting standards or US GAAP.
Investors in Western Europe, Asia and Africa favoured IASs, while North Americans wanted US GAAP.