LGPS Central, the £40bn pool for nine Midlands-based local government pension schemes, has appointed Hermes to provide its ESG voting and engagement services.
The asset manager will assist the pool in implementing its environmental, social and governance standards by providing advice on shareholder engagement for the pools’ assets.
LGPS Central, which manages the assets of Cheshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, and the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority’s pension funds, has already pooled £14bn in assets and is planning to merge a further £26bn in the coming years.
The pool prides itself in taking an active stance as a shareholder. In the third quarter of 2018 alone, it has voted on 2,643 resolutions and has taken an active stance on issues such as remunerations and appointments of directors, where it opposed board proposals in 46 and 121 cases, respectively.
The announcement follows similar agreements by other major pools. Border to Coast appointed Robeco for its shareholder and engagement services while Brunel also oped for Hermes to support its shareholder and engagement mandate.
