Pension funds and social investment: final response
This is the government’s final response to the Law Commission’s report on pension funds and social investment.
In November 2016, the government asked the Law Commission to look at how far pension funds may or should consider issues of social impact when making investment decisions.
The Law Commission’s report found there are no substantive regulatory barriers to making social impact investment by pension funds. Most of the barriers are in fact structural and behavioural, including the need for clearer legislation and guidance.
This is the government’s final response to the report. It includes plans to clarify the requirements for trustees of occupational pensions and the independent governance committees of workplace personal pensions around:
- consideration of broader long term financial risks
- pension schemes’ ability to consider members’ non-financial or ethical concerns
- the role of engagement alongside voting as an important aspect of stewardship of pension scheme assets
Consultation
We published a consultation on the draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment and Disclosure) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 with this final response.
Related publications
Read the Law Commission report – Pension funds and social investment.
We published the government’s interim response in December 2017.