Responsible Investment Report

How we invest your pension savings responsibly

We invest your pension savings responsibly because we believe it's one of the best ways to protect and grow your money over the long term. By identifying risks, finding opportunities and encouraging higher standards at the companies we invest in, we aim to deliver better outcomes for members.

Our latest Responsible Investment Report shows how we've used our influence as a major investor to help protect members’ savings and drive positive change on issues that can affect long-term investment performance.

Download our Responsible Investment Report

Our report aligns with the UK Stewardship Code. The Code sets a high standard of transparency for asset owners to demonstrate how they’re looking after their members’ money responsibly.

Read the full report

The 2026 Report

This year we’ve seen steady growth in our investments as we continue to put our strong responsible investment standards into practice.

We’ve appointed a new investment manager that’s better aligned with our responsible investment approach.
Through our investment managers, we’ve encouraged the companies we invest in to improve employee health and safety, stop deforestation, and more.
We’ve won awards for our efforts to drive real-world change to generate long-term value for our members.

We believe the more we push for positive change, the more positive it will be for the pounds in your pension.

Responsible investment at a glance 2025-2026

Members and Funds	Stewardship Activity	Impact and Outcomes
7.2 million members	1,000+ companies we invest in are under engagement to improve	3 stewardship priorities: climate, nature, human rights
£38.9bn invested on behalf of members	7,419 company shareholder meetings voted at by our investment managers	8 new signatories to our Asset Owner Statement on Climate Stewardship
1 new investment manager better aligned with our approach	75,144 votes cast at company shareholder meetings by our investment managers	2 awards won for our stewardship work to reform systems

^{These numbers are from 31 March 2026. The Responsible Investment Report covers the Scheme year April 2025 – March 2026.}

Report archive

Bar chart showing the largest number of company engagements were on governance issues (approx 2,600), followed by environmental issues (approx 2,000), followed by social issues (approx 1,100).

Using our influence to drive change

We invest your pension savings in thousands of companies across the world, which makes us shareholders and bondholders in those companies. This gives us a say in how they’re run. We work through our investment managers to encourage those companies to improve their practices and manage long-term risks.

By meeting with company boards, our managers can demand transparency on processes, set targets, and help drive up standards.

1,321 companies engaged with
1,928 engagements in total
5,803 different issues engaged on

Holding companies to account through voting

Voting at shareholder meetings is one of the most important ways investors can influence company behaviour.

During the year, our investment managers cast 75,144 votes at company shareholder meetings on our behalf.

Examples of voting activity included:

Supporting a proposal for Meta to disclose a stronger climate transition plan
Voting against Centrica management over concerns about its climate transition plan
Voting against directors at Shanjin International Gold over deforestation concerns
Supporting an independent assessment of warehouse working conditions at Amazon

These actions help ensure companies remain accountable to investors and other stakeholders.

Choosing our investment managers

We appoint specialist investment managers to manage day-to-day investments on behalf of members and hold them accountable against our responsible investment standards. We work with our managers to improve where needed and take action, including moving assets elsewhere, if expectations are not met.

We recently appointed new investment managers: Amundi, Invesco and Robeco. They’re more closely aligned with our responsible investment approach.

How our investment managers performed

All managers met our basic responsible investment expectations in 2026, with some demonstrating stronger alignment with our more ambitious standards. We continue to work closely with all our managers to drive further improvements and support better long-term outcomes for members.

For full assessment results and manager-by-manager analysis, download the report.

Frequently asked questions

Responsible investment means considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and how they might affect financial performance, when deciding what to invest in. We consider these issues in our stewardship work too – that’s how we work with our investment managers, the companies we invest in, and the wider industry we operate in.

The more we do this, the more we can reduce risk and improve long-term returns.

Find out more about responsible investing.

Stewardship means responsibly looking after our members’ pension savings in a way that preserves and enhances their value over the long term. For us it means using our investor influence to drive positive change – at companies we invest in, with investment managers we partner with, and with industry and policymakers too.

For example, we:

Prioritise the ESG issues that could have the biggest financial impact on our members’ savings
Integrate these into how we select, appoint, and monitor our investment managers – so choosing managers that are aligned with our responsible investment approach
Through our investment managers, engage and vote at the companies we invest in to improve their ESG standards – this is sometimes called active ownership
Engage with industry and policymakers to improve the system we operate in – find out more about System Change
Work with like-minded investors to increase our influence and push for change together

Improving standards at companies can increase their value, while reducing harmful impacts on people and planet. Improving the functioning of the markets can improve the resilience of the economy – and we depend on this for long-term investment returns.

Doing all of this can help protect and grow our members’ savings while improving the world they’ll retire into.

There are some companies we do not invest in, like those involved in controversial weapons. But generally, we prefer to engage with companies to encourage them to improve, rather than divesting.

Engagement	Divestment
Maintains influence	Removes ownership and shareholder rights
Can drive long-term change	Limits future influence
Supports stewardship	Can be used if engagement is unsuccessful

See our other reports

Climate progress report

Our yearly update on how we’re protecting your pension from the financial risks of climate change.

Investment reports and statements

All our responsible investment and climate reports, policies, and position papers.

Investment funds

The full range of funds you can choose from when it comes to investing your pension savings.