Smart Pension, one of the UK’s workplace pension providers, announces its investment in the AMX-DWS Global Low Carbon Stewardship Fund.
The fund is a new low-carbon global equity index strategy that “offers innovative stewardship voting capabilities, being one of the first pooled funds to offer institutional investors split voting within a pooled fund as well as being aligned with Smart Pension’s 2040 net zero goal.”
The fund is a partnership “between Carne platform, AMX, asset manager DWS, stewardship provider Minerva Analytics and index provider Solactive.”
This partnership offers institutional investors “the opportunity to express their voting preferences within a pooled fund.”
Voting is split in proportion “to each investor’s holding in the fund, offering institutional investors stronger investment stewardship and active ownership.”
The fund uses new split voting technology “from Minerva Analytics which aims to track a low-carbon global equity index, offering investors diversified equity exposure aligned with the long-term targets of the Paris Climate Agreement.”
The fund is aligned “with Smart Pension’s Smart Sustainable Growth Fund target, to be net zero by 2040.” This continues to put Smart Pension “at the forefront of the industry from a sustainability perspective, as well as accountability and stewardship.”
The news comes after Smart Pension “announced it had more than halved the emissions of the Smart Sustainable Growth Fund in February this year.” This is over two years “ahead of the 50% reduction target it announced in June 2022.”
In January 2023 Smart Pension “became the first UK pension provider to offer customers a range of growth funds that are all fully sustainable, including the Smart Sustainable Growth Fund, in January 2023.”
Smart Pension has made considerable progress “in incorporating investments with a strong sustainability focus into its portfolio, and intends to continue doing so. Smart Pension is a member of leading global sustainability initiatives.”
Paul Bucksey, Chief Investment Officer at Smart Pension, commented:
“We are focused on achieving great outcomes for our members. We want to help them secure long-term financial growth and a safer, healthier world in which they can retire. We’re delighted to have worked with AMX, DWS, Solactive and Minerva Analytics, to create a fund that is strongly aligned to not only our net zero targets, but also our commitments to stewardship and accountability.”
Mark Stockley, Chief Business Development Officer at Carne, commented:
“We are delighted to partner with Smart Pension, Minerva Analytics, Solactive and DWS to provide institutional investors with an innovative solution that allows them to express their voting rights, ensuring climate change and governance issues are addressed by corporate stewards across the globe.”