This is a difficult time for many people and for many businesses. We understand that the results of a member survey will not be a priority for some of you.
However, on balance we feel it right to share these results because our pension fund has at its core a desire to contribute to a strong economy, healthy environment and fair society. We think these things are all needed now more than ever.
In February, we asked for your views on responsible investment. We had a great response with over 2,600 of you taking part in the survey. Thank you.
We were really encouraged to see that you share our passion for investing responsibly.
- 88% of you think it is important* to invest in sustainable and low carbon assets. (*Results of those who stated it was very important, important or quite important.)
- 90% of you think it is important to influence the behaviour of the individual companies we invest in so that we help the environment and society more broadly.
We think climate change poses a financial risk to investments and so do you.
- 69% of you think that climate change will present a financial risk to investments in your lifetime. And generally the younger you are, the greater you see this risk to be.
We also wanted to understand the best way to tell you about how the fund invests responsibly - which method works best and what type of initiative had caught your eye:
- 55% of you said that you had not seen any communications.
- The majority of you that had seen news about responsible investment had read about it in the member newsletter.
- The website was the second most popular channel.
Have a look at the full set of results. We’ve broken these down by age and by type of member (active, deferred or pensioner).
And finally, because we know the survey can only ask a few high level questions, we want to hold some focus groups so that we can get down into the nitty gritty and hear what you think. We're delighted that nearly 600 of you offered to carry on the conversation. We'll be in touch with those members separately about this.
One of our aims is to make you proud of your pension fund. Let’s keep talking and building a better future.