Border to Coast outlines engagement priorities
Author: LAPF Investments | Published: August 6, 2026
Border to Coast has published refreshed responsible investment and engagement strategies, outlining its engagement priorities.
It comes as the pool continues to strengthen its management of long-term investment risks and opportunities on behalf of partner funds, with the strategies detailing how the business will integrate financially material sustainability-related risks into investment decision-making and stewardship through to 2030.
The updated engagement strategy builds on the success of the previous strategy cycle and continues to strengthen the pool’s stewardship framework. As part of this, it enhances the pool’s escalation approach and places greater emphasis on board accountability where engagement does not deliver sufficient progress.
In line with this, Border to Coast has identified four engagement priorities that reflect the most financially material long-term risks and opportunities across its portfolios, namely:
- Corporate accountability: focusing on governance quality, board effectiveness and accountability to support long-term value creation
- Climate resilience: encouraging credible transition planning, effective governance and business strategies that support long-term portfolio resilience
- Natural capital and biodiversity: encouraging improved assessment and management of nature-related risks, impacts and dependencies
- Fairness in work, pay and prospects: addressing labour-related risks and workforce practices, including advancing fair pay, that can affect long-term company performance and economic resilience
Border to Coast’s head of responsible investment Tim Manuel said: “Our updated strategies build on the strong foundations we have established over recent years, and sharpen our focus on the sustainability-related factors that are most material to long-term investment outcomes.
“Good governance, climate resilience, nature-related risks, and workforce issues can all have a bearing on portfolio resilience and long-term returns. Understanding and managing these long-term risks is an important part of our role as a long-term investor and supports partner funds in fulfilling their fiduciary duty to their members.”
It comes alongside the pool setting out new strategies in its latest annual Responsible Investment and Stewardship Report and Annual Sustainability Report, updating on its progress in protecting and enhancing long-term value for partner funds.
Some of these achievements include retaining its signatory status at the FRC Stewardship Code for a fifth consecutive year, and being Good Business Charter accredited.
It also voted at 1,352 investee company Annual General Meetings, with 13% of votes against management on issues such as board governance and executive pay.
Writing in the report, Border to Coast’s chief investment officer Joe McDonnell added: “Across the Border to Coast partnership, we see effective stewardship not as an add-on to investment, but as a core component of how we manage risk, allocate capital, and enhance outcomes across portfolios.
“This requires disciplined engagement with companies and markets on the issues that most directly influence financial performance, alongside a clear willingness to escalate where progress is insufficient.
“The world continues to change and not always predictably. Acting on behalf of our partner funds, we need to respond to short-term developments while maintaining a clear focus on delivering returns over the long term.
“Our partner funds are paying members’ pensions today and will continue to do so for decades to come. That long-term horizon shapes how we allocate capital, construct portfolios, and manage risk.”
