Smart Pension commit to move away from fossil fuel investments

Smart Pension has today (February 1) committed to halving its scheme emissions before 2030. 

The prominent UK master trust has signed up Make My Money Matter, a campaign which is fighting for a world where we all know where our pension money goes.

There is currently over £3 trillion in UK pensions, and this money which is owned by all of us is invested to build our savings for the future. But many of us do not know where this money goes, and from fossil fuels to tobacco, these investments are often contradicting our values.

In light of this, Smart Pension has now pledged to halve its scheme emissions before 2030. They have also pledged to introduce a new Social Impact Fund, which will capture investment opportunities that offer solutions to broader environmental and social challenges, from social housing, technologies to improve the use of water, and gender equality in employment.

This transition away from fossil fuels is expected to have a material impact on the value of investments over each member’s pension lifespan – meaning that the pledge will bring both positive environmental and financial outcomes for Smart Pensions members.

Paul Bucksey, managing director of the Smart Pension Master Trust commented: ‘Climate change is one of the most important issues facing each and every one of us. But achieving great risk-adjusted returns for members while investing for long term environmental and societal benefits aren’t mutually exclusive objectives, and it is important that trustees and scheme sponsors grasp the opportunity that this offers.

‘Having repositioned the Smart Pension default investment strategy to focus on companies with high Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) scores, and with an upcoming additional allocation to Social Impact, we’re delighted to further underline our commitment to sustainable investing by partnering with Make My Money Matter.’

Richard Curtis, co-founder of Make My Money Matter added: ‘Smart Pension’s announcement sets a glowing example for the pensions industry. In pledging to take action now and make these changes in advance of the deadlines, Smart aligns itself with the aims of the Paris Climate Agreement that seek to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoids paying corporate lip service.’

Photo Credit – Pixabay