Two further steps were taken by The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) to enhance its approach to responsible investing: F&C Investment was appointed, to provide voting and engagement services for PPF’s UK equities, and it was decided to make public PPF’s UK voting records with further reporting on its engagement activities development as they develope.
“These moves will help make sure that we build on our commitment, set out in our investment principles, to take account of ESG considerations when deciding where to invest,” says Martin Clarke, Director of Financial Risk. “F&C’s appointment will help us to address a range of long-term, material ESG issues across our assets, starting with UK equities. And, by making our voting records public for the first time, we are demonstrating our commitment to key PPF strategic objectives – being principled and open in our actions.”
F&C Investment will also provide advice on the PPF’s responsible investment strategy and engage companies in its UK portfolio, encouraging them to adopt best practice on a range of relevant issues such as corporate governance arrangements, transparency and reporting and climate change.
The PPF has signed up to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) which will provide a best practice benchmark on how to address environmental, social and governance issues across its investments.