BT and the BBC have topped a new league table of the UK’s occupational pension schemes for responsible investment, while GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls Royce shared last place.
The rankings, compiled by charity ShareAction, evaluated the UK’s 24 largest pension schemes and four auto-enrolment master trusts based on the action they take to address members’ concerns about the behaviour of the businesses they invest in, as well as how actively they use shareholder voting rights and interact with companies.
The BT and the BBC schemes were placed jointly at number one, with a score of 35 out of a possible 40, while GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls Royce were given the lowest scores – scoring just one point between them.
The survey also included four master trusts, who are taking on many thousands of new savers who have been automatically enrolled into pension saving. Among these, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) came top with 27.5 points, followed by the People’s Pension in second with 18, while Smarter Pensions (The Pensions Trust) and Now: Pensions came in joint third with nine points each.
ShareAction chief executive Catherine Howarth (pictured) said: “The pension schemes we’ve ranked are amongst the UK’s most powerful investors, but our survey shows that only a few take that responsibility seriously. If big employers like GlaxoSmithKline and Barclays want to improve their CSR credentials, they need to make sure their pensions schemes invest in a way that is transparent and accountable.”
The survey found that although all but one of the schemes surveyed had a specific responsible investment policy, the quality of these is often poor with six policies making only vague and generic statements. Ten of the 24 occupational schemes provide no information to members on how they vote at company AGMs.
But the survey also found improvement since 2009, with 11 pension funds publishing detailed reports of their engagement with investee companies (up from five in 2009). This is a reflection on the positive impact of the UK’s Stewardship Code, introduced in 2010.
It also found master trusts show more interest in communicating with their members, with two out of the four surveyed (NEST and the People’s Pension) publishing the top 10 holdings for each fund they provide. Only eight out of 22 schemes who responded to the survey hold face to face meetings with their members, it found.
Howarth added: “There’s absolutely no excuse for schemes keeping members in the dark about how their money is managed. It’s encouraging to see some new pension providers using social media to connect with their members, not least to demystify pensions jargon but also so as to conduct regular member surveys.”
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