Pension Fund RI recommendations

FairPensions' industry surveys examine and rank the Responsible Investment performance of the UK's largest pension funds and fund managers. Year in, year out, FairPensions' research keeps these powerful bodies accountable and under scrutiny. Although there's still a long way to go, our research shows significant annual improvement in investor transparency and action on Responsible Investment.

For Responsible Investment to be the norm, pension funds must put their money where their mouth is. Expressing a concern for social responsibility or the environment is one thing, but putting Responsible Investment principles into practice is another. This requires a documented and publicly disclosed strategy for engagement with investee companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, which includes quantifiable targets and demonstrable action.

Our 2009 pension fund survey, 'Responsible Pensions?' examined the existence and transparency of ESG policies and practices amongst the top 30 of the UK's largest occupational pension funds.

Responsible Pensions? 2009 survey

Overall, our research showed that investors are taking Responsible Investment more seriously and becoming more transparent over time. However, there's a big gap between the leaders and laggards - with the majority of pension schemes still falling short of best practice codes for accountability and disclosure.

For each of the top 30 UK occupational pension funds in our 2009 survey, FairPensions offered a specific set of recommendations for how Responsible Investment practices could be improved. Search in the list below to see FairPensions' recommendations for your pension scheme: