UK Launches Social Factors-focused Taskforce For Pensions

The UK government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched its Taskforce on Social Factors. The taskforce will support pension scheme trustees and the wider pensions industry in navigating the risks, opportunities, and key challenges surrounding the management of social factors, including the identification of reliable data and metrics. The taskforce was initially announced last summer, with the aim of tackling issues including workforce conditions, supply chains, community engagement, consumer protection and modern slavery. The taskforce has selected its members, finalised its terms of reference, and held initial meetings to agree on how the taskforce will operate along with its final deliverables. It will run for one year and has three objectives: to identify reliable data sources, monitor and report on international standards such as those from the International Sustainability Standards Board, and develop how trustees can manage risks caused by modern slavery and supply chain issues. The 15-person taskforce will be chaired by IFM Investors’ Chief Strategy Officer Luba Nikulina, with other members including representatives from pensions schemes, asset managers, data providers, cross-industry collaboration groups and civil society, with the DWP providing secretarial support. Government departments including HM Treasury, and regulators such as the Financial Reporting Council, Financial Conduct Authority, and The Pensions Regulator will be observers on the taskforce.

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