Environment Agency Pension Fund (EAPF), part of the local government pension scheme (LGPS) for England and Wales, has developed a new responsible investment policy that sets out its strategy and what it expects from asset managers.
The pension fund, which already declared a net zero by 2045 target, has asset allocation targets that include having 17% of its assets in climate solutions by 2025 and 4% invested in natural capital, “demonstrating that we are net nature positive and deforestation free”.
The pension fund has also said it is open to investments in biodiversity credit investments that can help monetise the restoration of ecosystems. EAPF is also keen to see improvements in reporting of Scope 4 data, on avoided emissions.
EAPF has said it will “not rely on carbon offsets” to get to its 2045 net zero goal, but according to a survey by Morgan Stanley, nearly 40% of asset owners currently purchase carbon offsets to mitigate their portfolio emissions. The survey, which was of more than 600 asset owners, split almost equally across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, also found that 25% say they plan to start buying carbon offsets within two years.
Aviva has become the first manager to be fined (€56,000) for breaching the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). Read our analysis, including insiders’ take on the news.
Pension funds in Switzerland and the Netherlands will be more resilient to disruptive climate policies than their peers in the UK and North America owing to fixed income allocations, according to a global pension fund climate risk report from Ortec Finance. Applying seven possible climate scenarios, which include the impact of climate tipping points in its high warming scenarios, the firm’s research found significant divergence in the exposure of pension funds globally to climate change.
A landmark judgement barring passive investors seeking compensation from a publicly-quoted company has been upheld in the UK’s High Court. The claims relate to wrongdoing dating back more than 10 years by a US division of Barclays for manipulating ‘dark pool’ trading systems.
KLP is one of the claimants fighting the bank for compensation, but the judge rejected the Norwegian public-sector pension fund’s argument that it had relied on the movements in the share price of Barclays alone.
Items to note:
- IPE’s latest supplement on class actions and investor litigation is out now.
Susanna Rust
ESG Editor
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