Trends we've seen

What sets the leading reporters apart? What's getting better? And where do the challenges remain?

• Telling a compelling story - the best reports combine a high level of disclosure with an engaging and communicative approach to tell a compelling, joined-up story
• Business models - the best reporters have started to offer explanations of their business models - although the approaches taken vary widely
• Strategic content - continues to improve, with a few more reporters linking strategy to KPIs and reporting on divisional priorities
• Governance - a few reporters have reconsidered how governance is communicated and are starting to tell their governance stories
• Risk - explanations of risk management frameworks and processes have improved, although the quality of information about principal risks and how they are managed remains inconsistent
• Markets - marketplace commentary has continued to improve, but discussions of companies' competitive environments remains scarce
• Sustainability - a few more reporters have started to integrate sustainability information through their reports, but coverage of material environmental and social information remains one of the weakest areas of reporting
• Reporting in silos - while the leading reporters present key content in a joined-up way, a significant number of companies continue to treat reporting as a series of discrete disclosures