The Pensions Trust, the leading multi-employer occupational pension fund in the UK for the Third Sector, reveals that nearly three quarters (72%) of charity workers believe investment in companies that operate responsibly is one of the most important pension attributes.

The Pensions Trust, working with Queen Mary, University of London and with design input from Mercer, has undertaken one of the largest surveys of charity workers views on pensions in the UK. The report found that whilst the size of the pension pot at retirement is still the most important attribute of a pension for the majority, scoring 7.93 on average on a 9 point scale, it is followed closely by investment in ethical companies, which scored 7.64.

Interestingly the survey reveals that charity workers want their pension provider to take action, not just via negative screening (80%), but also to be much more engaged shareholders:  looking at environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) performance (69%); providers that are active in voting engagement (67%) and schemes that undertake positive screening (63%).

The areas of ethical investment that respondents are most concerned about are weapons, pornography and child labour, with 79%, 82% and 92% respectively showing they were extremely or moderately concerned about those issues.5 In relation to this, 83% would most like their pension fund to press companies into behaving more responsibly with regards to child labour, and 74% for improving their human rights record.

Sarah Smart, Chair of the Trustee of The Pensions Trust, said: “We wanted to get views from the charity sector about what was important to them when considering their investment and it is clear that they want ESG issues to be high on the pensions investment agenda. Furthermore, with 61%8 of respondents claiming that they are likely to invest more responsibly in the future, we can clearly see that this is becoming an influential and key deciding factor for people choosing their pension funds. At The Pensions Trust, we are committed to providing a service that meets our member’s needs, and with ethical investment high on the priority list for many, we are currently looking into ways we can upgrade our offering to make responsible investment a key element of our schemes.”

Photo credit: Michelle Meiklejohn