Border to Coast makes a difference as responsible investor, says report

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership continues to make progress as an active steward of LGPS assets in 2021/22, according to the annual Responsible Investment and Stewardship Report.

Now responsible for more than £38 billion, Border to Coast voted on 12,206 resolutions at investee companies, and held 1,672 engagements with companies.

Key votes included voting against a climate and transition plan proposed by mining firm BHP Group on the basis that it lacked ambition; supporting a shareholder resolution requiring Costco Wholesale to commit to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; and supporting SSE’s Net Zero Business Plan.

Border to Coast also voted at 930 meetings. One third (33%) of votes against was in the category of board members, followed by remuneration at 21%.

In the past year, Border to Coast launched its second private markets programme, with £4 billion of commitments from partner funds, which included a £1.35 billion climate opportunities proposition, to target investments with a material positive impact on climate change.

It is also part of a collaboration of pension funds representing almost £400 billion in assets exploring how real world change can be driven through investments that support the climate transition in emerging markets.

Border to Coast has also recently published its TCFD report.

Rachel Elwell, CEO at Border to Coast, said: “We continue to make significant progress in influencing and driving standards through developing our approach to responsible investment.

“Collaboration is one of our core values, and we use the strength offered by our collective scale to influence the companies we invest in and to support industry initiatives.

“We continue to believe in the power of engagement, and these reports set out the impact we are having both within the investment industry and across the global companies in which we invest.”