Time to open up the taps

摘要

Exciting things are happening in the world of local authority pension funds. Hold on -exciting? Local authority...pension funds? At least some of England's 89 local authority pension funds have long had strong Corporate Social Responsibility statements. Yet until recently, they have generally looked to stock markets to deliver the steady long-term returns required to pay pensions. Now, many are broadening their horizons. The momentum has been building within think-tanks and campaigning groups for some years. For example, the charity FairPensions (now ShareAction) was launched in 2005 to promote responsible investment in the wider pensions industry. In January 2010, the chief of executive of Infrastructure UK called for the creation of a 'new financial instrument' for pension funds to invest in strategic infrastructure.