Ethical site for pensions is launched
A new website has been established to allow trustees to lobby fund managers over how their pensions are invested.
The scheme, set up by FairPensions and backed by the Co-operative and Unison, hopes to sway upcoming shareholder votes by BP and Shell over the development of environmentally damaging oil sands fields.
FairPensions hopes reaching out to fund managers will provide it with enough ammunition to scupper the oil giant’s plans to develop new fields holding over 173bn barrels of oil.
The Co-operative, as well as financially supporting the project, will contact hundreds of thousands of its members and customers asking for their support.
Catherine Howarth, chief executive of FairPensions, said: “This annual meeting season could herald a new era of public accountability for companies and their investors. People do not always realise that their pension provider holds shares in major companies on their behalf. Anyone with pension savings has a right to lobby their fund manager on how to vote on these vitally important resolutions.”