Pension Fund Management

We are the administering authority for the Environment Agency active and closed funds. The active fund is open to all of our employees whilst the closed fund provides benefits to those members of the former Water Authorities Superannuation Fund who were either pensioners or deferred members on the privatisation of the water industry in 1989. Both funds are part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). We are one of the largest members of the LGPS and one of the biggest pension funds in the United Kingdom.

Capita maintain a website on behalf of and in partnership with the Environment Agency pension fund. It provides useful information for members of our active and closed funds as well as electronic versions of member publications.

• Capita pension fund members website
• Briefing note: Our new investment strategy and asset allocation for our Active Fund, 2012 - 2014 (PDF, 86KB)
  Briefing note for fund members, future fund managers and other interested parties.
• Pension fund awards (PDF, 54KB) 
  Details of the awards won by our pension fund, including our latest 2012 awards.
  

Annual report and accounts

Please see our publications page for previous annual reports and further information.

• Active pension fund - Annual report and financial statement, 2012 (PDF, 1.13MB) 
• Closed pension fund - Annual report and financial statement, 2012 (PDF 2.23MB) 
   

Responsible Investment

We aim to demonstrate to our fund managers and other stakeholders that our active pension fund is managed responsibly with financially robust and environmentally credible strategies and policies for the investment and mangement of the funds assets. Below are the regular disclosures and most recent articles regarding the implementation of our responsible investment strategy. Please see our publications pages for further research, reports, case studies, voting disclosure and other information.

• Our responsible investment policy (PDF, 45KB)
  The principles, aims and objectives that govern our responsible investment.
  Responsible investment review (PDF, 1.15MB) 
  This ground breaking report demonstrates to our members, fund managers and other stakeholders that our active pension fund is managed responsibly with financially robust and environmentally credible strategies and polices. This report brings together the policies, processes and initiatives we have used to implement responsible investment across our whole fund.
• Making our active pension fund investment strategy greener (PDF, 38KB)
  A board paper on how we have made the investment strategy of the Active Pension Fund greener, and used it to influence behaviour in the wider investment world.
  

United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI)

• UNPRI survey questionnaire (PDF, 153KB)
  As part of our membership of the UN Principles of Responsible Investment we publish our response to their annual questionnaire, this is our 2010 response.
• Responsible investment in passive management strategies (PDF, 522KB) 
  This report published by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) provides case studies demonstrating how asset owners and investment managers are meeting the challenge of responsible investment within passive management strategies.
  

UK Stewardship Code

• Our compliance with the UK Stewardship code (PDF, 55KB)
  Environment Agency Active Fund (EAPF) is fully committed to responsible investment. We believe there is a considerable body of evidence that well governed companies produce better and more sustainable returns than poorly governed companies. A summary of our compliance with the UK Stewardship code, published in 2010, is detailed below.
  

Voting

• Active pension fund voting policy on environmental issues (PDF, 55KB)
  The voting policy for the Environment Agency Active Pension Fund for 2011-12. It contains details of our voting guidance on environmental disclosure, environmental and social governance (ESG) links to pay and performance, as well as a wide range of environmental issues including climate change, sustainability reporting, waste, energy, non-conventional fossil fuels, etc.
• Environmental resolutions 2011/12 (PDF, 71KB) 
  Our voting record on global environmental resolutions during 2011/12.
• Hermes Voting Statistics Summary - Q1 2012 (PDF, 85KB)
  A summary of voting activities undertaken by our fund manager, Hermes, duirng the first quarter of 2012.
  

Engagement

• Hermes public engagement report - Q2 2012 (PDF, 3MB)
  A summary of responsible ownership activities undertaken by our fund manager, Hermes, during the second quarter of 2012.
• Hermes annual voting and engagement report  - 2011 (PDF, 2MB)
  Report on the engagemen and voting work carried out on by Hermes on behalf of the Envionment Agency during 2011.
  

Recent articles

• Reducing environmental risk without compromising performance (PDF, 149KB)
  Since 2006 we have measured the environmental footprint of our actively managed equities.  This has shown that between 2006 and 2010 our actively managed equities have, in aggregate, financially outperformed the benchmark of the MSCI World Developed Countries Index by +2.5% whilst the environmental footprint has reduced by 30%.  This article provides more information about this pioneering work.
• Public service review, 2011 (PDF, 60KB)
  A recent article in which Howard Pearce, Head of Environmental Finance and Pension Fund Management, explains the changing role of our pension fund.
  

Presentations

• Making our investment strategy greener (PDF, 693KB)
  A presentation explaining the work we have done the investment strategy of our pension fund greener, and the drivers behind why we believe this is a fundamental aspect of our fiduciary duty.
• The UK Stewardship Code (PDF, 368KB)
  Presentation from the Local Authority Conference 2011 which explains our investment philosophy and stewardship frameworks.
• The Environment Agency Pension Fund and climate change (PDF, 312KB)
  A presentation from 2011 on how we measure and manage our environmental impact.