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A group of responsible investment champions is beginning to emerge among UK corporate pension funds, according to a survey by UK Sustainable Investment and Finance.

A group of responsible investment champions is beginning to emerge among UK corporate pension funds, according to a survey by UK Sustainable Investment and Finance.
 
BT Pension Scheme retained its platinum ranking in this second bi-annual survey, while the Barclays UK Retirement Fund, BP Pension Fund and HBOS Final Salary Pension Scheme all progressed to a gold ranking from silver. Three quarters of repeat respondents achieved a higher score this year than in 2007.
 
The survey found that trustees of three quarters of surveyed funds now believe that environmental, social and governance factors can have a material impact on the fund’s investments in the long term. Two thirds of trustees thought it was important to align the plan’s responsible investment policy with the fund sponsor’s CSR policies.
 
Michael Deakin, chair of the UKSIF sustainable pensions advisory board says: ‘Given all the challenges faced by pension fund trustees over the last two years, I find the clear signs of progress made on implementing responsible investment policies very encouraging. More funds now have a responsible investment policy, and more significantly, of those funds that completed both the 2007 and 2009 surveys more than half have achieved a higher ranking this year.’