The Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (Saul), with around £3 billion in assets under management, has become the first UK pension scheme to adopt pass-through voting for both its DC and DB plans.
Pass-through voting allows pension schemes to enforce voting preferences on AGM resolutions in pooled-fund investments, ensuring consistent implementation of voting policies across all funds and plan types, and increasing stewardship impact.
Saul uses pass-through voting to influence decisions on issues such as pay and climate change by linking votes with pooled fund values that promote responsible investing. Saul prioritises voting on resolutions involving Climate Action 100+ firms and its top 500 holdings.
The move follows a similar one made by the £2 billion Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) for Camden.
Tumelo CEO Georgia Stewart says: “DC pension funds are growing more conscious of their ability to influence the companies their money is invested in. Pass-through voting plays a pivotal role in magnifying their influence, guaranteeing that their investments align with their objectives. From here, the stewardship landscape will only become more complex. Tumelo is helping fund managers like LGIM to respond by enhancing their fund offering with vote customisation.”
Saul CIO Kevin Wade says: “It’s great to see three of our partners, Legal and General, Tumelo and PIRC, working together to help Saul implement its voting policy across more of our investments. This will also give Saul more influence and a stronger voice when engaging with portfolio companies.”
PIRC managing director Alan MacDougall says: “We are thrilled to extend our work with Saul to enhance voting consistency and better align their investment principles across their investments. PIRC’s tailored Voting Guidelines, combined with our detailed company research and risk assessments, allow us to provide Saul with precise, bespoke voting recommendations that reflect their values and expectations.”
Legal & General Investment Management head of client platforms Stuart Murphy says: “At LGIM, we see it as a privilege to manage money on behalf of our clients. Many of those clients choose LGIM and stick with us for our Stewardship policies and the depth of our engagement with companies.
“A key element of our approach to Stewardship is working closely with all our clients to reflect their views when it comes to important issues; and where a client such as Sal wishes to vote we are able to support this option via our pooled DB and DC Funds, thanks to our partnership with Tumelo. Saul’s decision to vote across all their assets including DC is a new development for the market – it will be interesting to see if other DC Mastertrusts also follow this path.”
