UK-based asset owners the Church of England Pensions Board (CoEPB) and the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) have outlined their stewardship priorities with the publication of their annual stewardship reports. Both the USS and CoEPB are UK Stewardship Code signatories, which is overseen by the Financial Reporting Council, with these reports the third for both firms indicating their current and future stewardship objectives. The CoEPB’s ‘2022 Stewardship Report’ focuses on impact and global systemic risks, including a spotlight on mining safety, executive pay, human rights, and climate change. It outlines pension board’s approach to tackling climate change, which includes leading global investor coalitions and integration into the investment approach of the fund. Adam Matthews, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at the CoEPB, said: “In serving our members and beneficiaries, we need to navigate long-term systemic risks. A disorderly climate transition not only hurts the poorest in society the most, but also directly works against our long-term financial interests”. USS’ ‘2023 Stewardship Code Report’ sets out how stewardship “remains an important aspect” of its investment approach. It includes case studies covering all asset classes, information on its new investment framework, the publication of its 2022 Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures report and net zero ambition progress updates. USS also said the report highlights its objective of making its stewardship “more rigorous” through seeking “tangible outcomes from our engagement with the companies we invest in”.
We have published our third Stewardship Code report, detailing how active stewardship remains a very important aspect of our approach to responsible investment and to promoting good corporate governance.
You can read it here: https://t.co/6UPtPrKk61
— USS (@USSpensions) June 14, 2023
