Pensions Board Stewardship Report 2020
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PENSIONS BOARD STEWARDSHIP REPORT 2020 Image: alamy INTRODUCTION WELCOME CONTENTS Welcome to the first of our of the Church of England. This 5 OUR APPROACH annual Stewardship Reports of report sets out how we carry out There are six interconnected facets of our the Church of England Pensions that responsibility on a day-to-day investment strategy that ensure we invest in line with ethical and sustainability best Board. Investing responsibly in line basis, the change we seek to make The Board has set two key stewardship practice and our Christian ethos. with our members' interests is a by working with other investors, and priorities, covering issues that will key objective for the Board. Our the specific interventions we made impact our members and the world 8 CLIMATE CHANGE they will retire into: climate change and extractive How we invest on behalf of our pension ambition is that members should on behalf of our members in 2020. industries. These issues are inextricably linked fund members can impact the climate both positively and negatively. We challenge be able to retire well, confident that and require systemic changes in the way companies we invest in to act sustainably. their pension funds are invested companies operate, pension funds invest and in how we steward our assets. We know that no sustainably and in ways which are single pension fund or investment manager is 17 EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES We are engaging with the mining sector sufficiently large or influential enough to drive helping make a better world. We following tragedies caused by the failure change at the scale that is required. We therefore of tailings dams and the destruction of have an enormous responsibility work in partnerships with others, leading major heritage sites. to be good stewards of the assets collaborations across the finance sector. entrusted to us, investing and On climate change, we are entering the Transition 22 SCREENING AND VOTING Decade during which critical decisions will be taken We screen out stocks that do not meet managing those funds in a way our ethical standards and we vote against John Ball Clive Mather that will determine whether the world succeeds CEO Chair of the Board companies where they fail to act responsibly. that reflects the ethics and ethos in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. As a fund we have demonstrated it is possible to drive real world change through the interventions 27 FUTURE PRIORITIES we have led over the past year, which in turn We are using the scale of our investments Vale's disaster in Brumadinho, my hometown, to tackle critical issues such as climate have improved the ways companies operate. The should have never happened. The nearly change and mining safety. last year has brought new safety standards and unbearable pain my community has faced has transparency in operations across the extractives to be the ultimate wake-up call to the world that mining industry. On climate change, we have seen new 29 APPENDICES practices have to be dramatically improved. I feel fortunate Some specific disclosures featured in carbon targets and changes in company lobbying enough to have encountered the Church of England this report, including alignment with the practice. We also engage on a range of important Task Force on Climate-related Financial Pensions Board and the Swedish Council on Ethics whose issues, including gender and ethnic diversity, Disclosures and the UK Stewardship Code. ethical motivation is to ensure that actions are taken on a human rights, modern slavery and workforce global scale so that safety is in fact prioritised and that our management. We know we have much still to voices are not silenced. Very important milestones have do and will no doubt be challenged on the way. already been reached and we intend to keep on working We are committed and determined to drive real together to achieve the goal of zero fatalities and respect change on behalf of our members, investing their to human and environmental rights. This report is intended to meet the asset assets sustainably and in ways that serve their Angelica Amanda Andrade from Brumadinho, Brazil owner reporting requirements of the UK standing next to a photograph of her sister who was killed interests and those of wider society. Stewardship Code 2020 and the Taskforce on in the Brumadinho mining disaster Adam Matthews Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Chief Responsible Investment Officer 2 The Church of England Pensions Board: Stewardship Report 2020 The Church of England Pensions Board: Stewardship Report 2020 3 FUND PROFILE FUND PROFILE KEY STATISTICS We are a long-term, diversified investor that manages its funds in • More than £3bn in assets under management (AUM) a way that meets our obligations to • Over 41,000 pension scheme members (clergy members and reflects the Church’s ethos and and church workers), across c.700 Church values. We are an active owner, committed organisations to managing our investments efficiently, • One of the Church of England’s three National working with our fund managers to maximise Investing Bodies (NIBs), alongside CBF Church of England Funds and the Church Commissioners long-term investment returns over decades. We integrate Environmental, Social and • Long-term institutional investor invested globally and across multiple asset classes Governance (ESG) considerations throughout our investment decision-making, and work • Stewardship and Responsible Investment are integral to the way we invest with other pension funds to drive performance and best practice in line with our responsible investment approach. FUND PERFORMANCE FIGURES 2020 • The assets of the pension schemes returned 9.4% Michael Pratten • Annualised returns over the past five years have been c.10% Chief Investment Officer YR %pa 1 yr 9.4% 3 yr 7.1% 5 yr 10.3% These results are provisional and subject to audit. REPORTING: THE STEWARDSHIP CODE 2020 AND TCFD This report provides disclosures recommended by both in 2020. It should be read in conjunction with various the UK Stewardship Code 2020 and the Task Force documents already in the public domain, including our on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The Statement of Investment Principles and Beliefs, our Appendices (p29) present structured disclosures to those Stewardship Implementation Framework, our Ethical frameworks, but the main body of this report details Investment Policies, and the published Advice of the our approach, priority areas and stewardship progress Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG). HOW OUR FUNDS ARE INVESTED IN DIFFERENT ASSET CLASSES Funds under Public Equities £1,470m management as at Index-linked Gilts £540m 31 December 2020. Infrastructure £360m Property £227m Private Debt £150m Cash £112m Corporate Bonds £86m Emerging Market Debt £79m Private Equity £25m Currency Hedges £21m Alternative Income Assets £11m Total £3,081m 4 The Church of England Pensions Board: Stewardship Report 2020 OUR APPROACH OUR APPROACH 630+ companies engaged 64% in 2020, across key of our Top 100 sectors of the economy. equity holdings were engaged on at least Leading one ESG theme. major investor coalitions We lead investor collaborations (TPI is supported by 93 investors with US$22trn AUM, the Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative by more than US$22trn AUM). 39,000+ company resolutions voted on, with 17.1% of votes against management (or with support withheld). 2 Won two of the five PRI industry leading awards for our Stewardship (Tailings Initiative) and for ESG Implementation (in the development of a new passive Climate Transition index with FTSE Russell and TPI). Image: iStock The Church of England Pensions Board: Stewardship Report 2020 5 OUR APPROACH OUR APPROACH OUR APPROACH The Board’s purpose is to provide retirement services to our requiring fundamental change within a whole sector. By 41,000 members, who have served or worked for the Church. mobilising the power of the assets entrusted to us, and Following the Board’s Investment Principles and Investment through partnering with other pension funds and investors Beliefs (CofE.io/InvestmentPrinciples) stewardship is integral it is possible to drive change in company behaviour. In 2020 Ethical Approach Collaboration and Asset Transparency to being a responsible investor, in both financial and ethical we led multiple collaborations of investors comprising many The way we invest impacts society Owner Leadership Providing clear, measurable and the environment, so we work to evidence of the approach we senses of that phrase. Effective stewardship requires reliable trillions of dollars of assets under management (AUM) intent No single pension fund is sufficiently guard against risks and seek beneficial big or influential enough in its own take enables better stakeholder data and good internal systems, capacity and integration, to see real world change. outcomes. We apply ethical investment right to drive the level of change understanding of our work. This but also leadership, willingness to speak out, transparency policies, informed by the advice of needed on issues such as climate is an important principle that also the Church’s independent Ethical helps us model best practice within and a commitment to developing and supporting long-term The diagram below details our approach. Each aspect change. Therefore, we regularly set Investment Advisory Group (EIAG). up or support collaborations led by the investment sector. In 2020, we partnerships and collaborations. is mutually reinforcing, and all at the service