Pensions for Purpose’s stewardship report sheds light on the state of stewardship in investment management and how it can drive long-term sustainable value.

Through interviews with 21 asset owners, trustees, consultants, managers and organisations like the UNPRI and ShareAction – their responses highlight important stewardship priorities, challenges in alignment and the effectiveness of engagement strategies. Climate change emerged as the dominant systemic risk, with biodiversity, DE&I and health also gaining traction. The findings from the research uncover how asset owners approach:

• Stewardship issues.
• Manager performance and accountability.
• Engagement strategies.
• Voting and escalation.

This stewardship report also presents examples of best practice raised during our interviews with asset owners and managers. These showcase how stewardship strategies, including direct engagement, collaborative initiatives and escalation tactics, have translated into tangible corporate change.

Read the full report         Read the press release

DATA COLLECTION

We asked our interviewees 15 questions to gain insights into how asset owners, trustees and consultants approach stewardship, focusing on whether it creates long-term value and how they integrate voting, engagement and escalation policies. Interviews were conducted with LGPS pools, master trusts and defined benefit pensions schemes managing over £200bn in assets.

FINDINGS

• Stewardship priorities – climate change is the top priority, with a growing focus on biodiversity, DE&I and health.
• Challenges – fragmented stewardship causes inconsistencies, especially for smaller funds with limited resources.
• Manager accountability – asset managers are crucial stewards operating with guidance from trustees; split voting, reporting and assessments are gaining traction.
• Escalation and engagement – escalation practices include voting against management, resolutions and public communications, alongside direct and collaborative engagement on systemic risks.
• Collaboration – initiatives like Climate Action 100+ and Nature Action 100 amplify investor influence and enable systemic change.

Learn more here