Many pensions schemes want to reduce negative impacts and risks like carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, poor governance and inequality that arise from and impact their portfolio. Going one step further, more and more pension funds are interested in investment opportunities that have a positive impact on the environment and society but which also secure a competitive financial return.
The Principles provide an accessible introduction to impact investing and the concrete steps pension schemes can take to pursue an impacAre you part of a pension fund team, a trustee of a pension fund or an independent adviser to a pension fund?
Your pension fund can become an Adopter of the Principles and use them as a good governance framework to guide your investment process. You need to sign the commitment statement and provide a quote to use on why you decided to adopt the Principles. We will then complete an interview with you where we do all of the hard lifting to provide you with a case study, as for our current Adopters We will then review this on an annual basis to understand the progress the pension fund is making.
Are you an investment consultant or fiduciary manager?
You can become an Adopter of the Principles and build them into the advice and management of assets on behalf of your clients, demonstrating that you are leading on this important agenda. You need to sign the commitment statement and provide a quote on why you decided to adopt the Principles. We conduct an annual evidence gathering exercise to understand what investment consultant and fiduciary manager Adopters are doing for their clients on impact.
Are you an organisation that would like to endorse the Principles?
You can become a Supporter. You need to sign the commitment statement and provide a quote to use on why you decided to support the Principles. A key element of support is promoting the Principles and encouraging their adoption.
"Environment Agency Pension Fund are incredibly proud to be recognised by Pensions for Purpose, peers and the Impact Investing Institute for the work we have done on climate change and impact investing. It is an honour we don’t take for granted and we use the latest science and research to make sure we continually improve." - Craig Martin, Environment Agency Pension Fund
In 2021 our award winner was South Yorkshire Pensions Authority.Aon MasterTrust, The
For us, Impact Investing is about combining the delivery of strong financial returns for our members whilst making a positive impact on the world around us. This is incredibly important as most of our members will be invested in The Aon MasterTrust for decades and thus focusing on investments that positively impact the world in years to come makes sense both financially and socially.
The Impact Investing Principles are a really useful framework. Particularly helpful is the way that the principles are straightforward, high-level and easily understood. It is much better to have something that is useable and widely adopted, than something that is daunting and rarely used. The Impact Investing Principles helped us with the thought process, rather than requiring lots of compliance level ‘box-ticking’.
Clwyd Pension Fund
"I wanted to give my backing to the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions as a practical framework to encourage other funds to consider impact investing. This is not just about measuring impact or sustainability - this is sensible investing". Debbie Fielder, Deputy Investment Director
Collegia
We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and commit to:
We will be able to demonstrate action in one or several of these areas within six months of adopting the Principles and will recommit on an annual basis with evidence for how the Principles have been used.
Environment Agency Pension Fund
Investing for impact not only delivers for the environment and society, but it delivers financial returns too. That has certainly been our experience since we set up our private market impact fund in 2014. We are really pleased to support The Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and share best practice across the industry.
London CIV
Over the past year, we’ve made great leaps towards our responsible investment milestones. Most notably we committed to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, becoming the first Local Authority pension pool to do so. In line with this objective, we launched multiple products with an explicit environmental impact objective – to help drive down carbon emissions reductions in the real economy – alongside a financial return. By aligning with the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions, we can further demonstrate how we are taking action and deploying capital towards strategies that present dual or triple-bottom-line benefits. Joining the Impact Investing Adopters Forum also provides a unique opportunity to share best practice with peers. Ultimately this will help to ensure we deliver on our Client Funds investment and sustainability objectives.
PensionBee
"At PensionBee we believe that pensions have the collective power and potential to change the world for the better. Trillions of pounds are invested in companies that can improve or harm the planet and society through their business activities. In February 2023 we launched our Impact Plan, the latest in a series of PensionBee customer-led plan innovations for the UK pensions market which offers a unique opportunity to use our pensions to invest in helping create a better future for people and the planet, whilst saving for retirement. There's no shortage of challenges facing our planet and society and we believe that bringing impact investing to the mainstream in this way is a big milestone. We are very proud to become an Adopter of the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions, which will support us in endorsing our commitment to helping our customers save for a happy retirement." Giorgia Antonacci, ESG Manager
Smart Pension Master Trust
"We're excited to be on our impact investing journey. We have backed the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions as it gives us a really tangible framework to help us get to where we want to be, including generating competitive returns to improve member outcomes. Through practical guidance and support, it will help us be part of the solution to the global systemic issues we currently face."
South Yorkshire Pensions Authority
"Organisations with credibility are behind the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions . By supporting this we are acting in concert and creating collective action to address social and environmental impact risks and opportunities alongside a financial return." George Graham, Director
Surrey Pension Fund
"The Impact Investing Principles for Pensions are pitched at the right level as they are achievable. They provided us with the support to look at how we wanted to contribute to a sustainable transformation. We would like to see the Principles evolve and continue to push the industry". Neil Mason, Strategic Finance Manager
Wiltshire Pension Fund
'Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee believe that investing with a positive social and environmental impact is an increasingly important issue for investors and can be achieved alongside competitive market returns. Investing with impact can also help incorporate risk and return drivers which would otherwise not be considered. The Fund wishes to invest in a way that minimises negative impacts on society and the environment and, where possible, makes a positive contribution.' Jennifer Devine, Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund
bfinance
There is a shift in the way investors are approaching responsible investing. ESG integration is fast becoming a norm; investors are increasingly wanting to go beyond and invest with impact. Asset owners wanting to allocate to impact funds face some distinct challenges, from education on “what impact they can have” to weeding out the impact washing that is still highly prevalent. At bfinance, we have been working closely with a range of institutional clients on addressing these challenges, including navigating their entry to the rapidly evolving product universes and expect investor demand to continue to grow in the coming years. The Impact Investing Principles, which we endorse, brings practicality to helping pensions schemes allocate their capital with people, planet and profit in mind.
Cardano
We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and commit to:
We will be able to demonstrate action in one or several of these areas within six months of adopting the Principles and will recommit on an annual basis with evidence for how the Principles have been used.
Redington
The Principles ensure that we continue to advance and evolve our thinking on impact investing, making sure we get the topic on as many of our client's agendas as possible. By highlighting positive and negative impacts, we can bring impact alongside risk and return showing our clients this is an evolution of their existing investment approach.
Schroders Solutions
As a fiduciary manager, the way we direct capital not only shapes the financial returns we can deliver for our pension scheme clients and their members but also the impact we have on the world. The way we invest is changing, driven by a fundamental shift in how companies are being viewed and valued. Where once we considered only risk and return, we now assess a third dimension – impact. We believe that considering these three pillars together can help us assess an asset’s real value and make better investment decisions for our clients. This is why we fully endorse the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions.
Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management
Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management was pleased to become an adopter of the Impact Investing Principles and to further develop our relationship with Pensions for Purpose. Not only are the Principles themselves important, they are common sense, good practice, and express how we at Van Lanschot Kempen already think about impact specifically and investment more broadly: that it is worth doing, does not limit our capabilities or opportunities for our clients, and aligns our clients, managers and portfolios in an easily understood – and non-technical – way. It also builds naturally on the co-creation of our Global Impact Pool with our Dutch clients in 2018, and why we were pleased to include this as a case study with the Institute.
XPS Investment
Responsible investing is core to our advice to clients as we believe it forms the basis of good investment decision making. Going further however, pension scheme trustees are increasingly looking to pursue positive impact whilst generating financial returns. Investing with the intention to contribute towards alleviating global social and environmental challenges is key to a future that members can retire into and we are keen to support pension schemes on this journey. We endorse and welcome the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions which set out a much-needed framework with practical steps in the evolving area of impact investing.
Organisations that want to demonstrate endorsement of the Principles and which will actively promote the Principles among their members/network
Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, The (GSG)
We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and the market infrastructure around them, particularly by disseminating the principles internationally. We will work to encourage all our stakeholders, through the National Advisory Boards, to consider the impacts of their investments along with the opportunities that positive impact investments provide.
Institute and Faculty of Actuaries
"The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries supports the work and efforts of the Impact Investing Institute and the development of impact investing. We support the development of the Impact Investing Four Good Governance Principles for Pension Schemes and the market infrastructure around them, particularly the enhancement of the metrics and frameworks for impact measurement, management and reporting. We encourage actuaries to consider the impacts of their investments along with the opportunities that positive impact investments provide.”
Investment Consultants Sustainability Working Group
Andrew Lilley, Head of Responsible Investment Research at Isio and part of the ICSWG’s impact investing team, said: “Institutional interest in impact investing has increased dramatically, especially over recent years. However, we see a great diversity of approach in implementing impact frameworks as well as inconsistencies in impact reporting. The ICSWG supports initiatives such as the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions that aim to bring best practice guidelines and standardisation to impact investing.”
Maturity Institute OMINDEX®
The Impact Investing Principles for Pensions provide a crucial foundation for re-defining investment and corporate success. Where financial return, environmental outcomes, and human value can be fully integrated within a mutually inclusive, stakeholder value system. The Principles are completely aligned with our own aims and objectives and we are excited that OMINDEX® can play its part to support them; to help demonstrate how true, total stakeholder value should be at the heart of organisational health. We hope our contribution will help to re-shape a financial services sector that authentically embeds Impact as a core, common purpose.
The Investor Forum
World Benchmarking Alliance
We support the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions and the market infrastructure around them, particularly those in scope of our proposed financial system benchmark, including pension funds and asset managers. We will work to encourage these institutions to consider the impacts of their investments along with the opportunities that positive impact investments provide.
Case Studies
Adopter case study.
Press
Demonstrating their endorsement of the principles and commitment to impact investing.
Blog
Since 2021 we have been delighted to welcome investment consulting and fiduciary management firms as Adopters of the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions. These firms play a pivotal role in the direction…
Blog
Over the course of 2021 and 2022, we have been delighted to welcome investment consulting firms as Adopters of the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions.
Press
Demonstrating their endorsement of the principles and commitment to impact investing.
Press
Demonstrating their endorsement of the principles and commitment to impact investing.
Press
Demonstrating their endorsement of the principles and commitment to impact investing.
Press
Demonstrating their endorsement of the principles and commitment to impact investing.
Press
Joining Aon, Barnett Waddingham, Cardano, Gordian Advice, Isio, Kempen, Redington, River & Mercantile and XPS in committing to support pension funds in adopting impact investing.
Press
Pensions for Purpose is proud to share the news that the Investment Consultants Sustainability Working Group (ICSWG) of 17 UK firms has endorsed the Impact Investing Principles for Pensions.