Published
15th February 2023
15th February 2023
We are delighted that East Sussex Pension Fund will be listed as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code by the Financial Reporting Council.
The UK Stewardship Code 2020 sets high stewardship standards for those investing money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners, and those that support them. Stewardship is the responsible allocation, management, and oversight of investments to create long-term value for clients and beneficiaries leading to sustainable benefits for the economy, the environment and society. The Code comprises a set of 12 ‘apply and explain’ Principles for asset managers and asset owners. To be a signatory to the Code, East Sussex Pension Fund demonstrated how we applied the Code’s Principles in the 12-month period up to 31 December 2021.
The Code covers all assets including listed equity, fixed income, bonds, real estate, and infrastructure. These investments have different terms, investment periods, rights and responsibilities and signatories to the Code and the Fund had to display how they have exercised stewardship effectively in these circumstances. In addition, the Fund had to evidence how they took account of environmental (particularly climate change) and social factors as these areas have become material issues for investors to consider when making investment decisions and undertaking stewardship.
Effective Stewardship is an integral part of our investment philosophy. The Fund recognises that through active shareholder engagement it can influence those companies it is invested in to improve their corporate behaviour. Improvements made by these engagements can lead to an increase in the long-term value of the Fund’s investments. The Fund believes that these can be maximised by collaborating with other like-minded investors to increase the pressure for change and encourage improvements to be made.
