Wales Pension Partnership appoints Robeco UK as its Voting and Engagement provider.
The Wales Pension Partnership (‘WPP’) is pleased to announce the appointment of Robeco UK, a branch of Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V (‘Robeco’) as the WPP’s Voting and Engagement provider. Robeco were appointed following the completion of a comprehensive procurement exercise. Robeco’s contract will commence on 1 April 2020 and will run for an initial period of 3 years with the potential for a 2-year extension.
Robeco will assist the WPP in formulating and maintaining a Voting Policy and Engagement Principles that are in keeping with the Welsh Constituent Authorities’ membership of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (‘LAPFF’)
Robeco will be tasked with helping WPP formulate its Voting Policy, this work will be carried out in collaboration with the eight Welsh Constituent Authorities over the course of the next six months. Following this, Robeco will take responsibility for implementing the Voting Policy across WPP’s £5bn active equity portfolio and reporting to WPP and the underlying Funds.
Additionally, Robeco will assist the WPP in framing its Engagement Principles and will undertake engagement activity on behalf of the WPP in accordance with the agreed principles. As part of its remit Robeco, will embrace WPP’s track record of collaborating with likeminded partners, policy makers and regulators to ensure that WPP achieves the most effective engagement outcomes. Robeco will also provide reporting and training on the WPP’s engagement activities at both a Pool and Constituent Authority level.
WPP will publish its Voting Policy and Engagement Principles on this website once they have been finalised.
The WPP believes that Responsible Investment alongside consideration and evidential management of Environmental, Social and Governance issues should result in better outcomes for WPP’s stakeholders. The appointment of Robeco evidences the WPP’s continued delivery of the commitments made in its Responsible Investment Policy and its vow to exercise its voting rights in line with the interest of its stakeholders and engaging with investee companies to enhance the long-term value of the Constituent Authorities’ investments within WPP.
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View AllSignatory to the UK Stewardship Code
We are delighted to announce that the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) remains as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code.
https://www.frc.org.uk/investors/uk-stewardship-code/uk-stewardship-code-signatories
The 2020 UK Stewardship Code sets a high bar for stewardship, a standard which the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) seeks to meet through its approach to responsible investment (RI). We are therefore delighted to have retained our signatory status for 2022.
Our focus for the year has been one of consolidation, reviewing our RI policies and building on our processes to ensure our pooling arrangement can better meet the needs of our beneficiaries. This year has seen more focus placed on the oversight and challenge of our providers, including undertaking deep dives into the climate and environmental, social & governance risks within our Sub-Funds. On our behalf, Robeco has voted on over 10,500 different resolutions and undertaken 280 individual company engagements. Our own focus on climate change is strongly reflected in a number of Robeco’s engagement themes and we continue to seek areas where we believe we support real-world change.
We recognise that there is still much more to do and, over the last 12 months, have appointed a dedicated RI resource to help us build on our RI commitments and meet the demands of stakeholders. We have also developed a Sustainable Active Equity strategy and a range of Private Markets funds, where consideration of stewardship and climate risk has been a focal point. We are also focusing effort on evaluating and communicating the progress the WPP has helped make on climate change over recent years.
We remain proud of our identity as a pool, where we will continue to evolve in collaboration with all eight Constituent Authorities within Wales – and the members of their pension schemes – to be effective stewards of their assets.
Wales Pension Partnership appoints Schroders Capital
The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) today announces the latest in its series of appointments to facilitate implementation of its Pooled Private Markets investment solutions.
Schroders Capital will develop the WPP pooled private equity investment programme, to meet Constituent Authorities’ needs in the asset class.
The appointment follows a rigorous procurement process run by the WPP with investment consultancy firm bfinance. The development will enable efficient and effective access to an illiquid asset class that has been a holding for LGPS funds for many years but that poses challenges in terms of access, cost and governance for single pension fund investors until scale is achieved.
Chris Moore, Director of Corporate Services at Carmarthenshire County Council (Host Authority for the WPP):
“Private Equity has been an important holding for the WPP Constituent Authorities but has historically been challenging to access in a cost effective manner. Pooling offers the opportunity to address this. We look forward to working with our newly appointed partners to meet this challenge and deliver efficient, effective and impactful Private Equity investment for the long term.”
Wales Pension Partnership awards Private Markets investment contracts
The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) today announces a series of appointments to facilitate implementation of its Pooled Infrastructure and Private Debt investment solutions.
Russell Investments will develop the WPP pooled private debt investment programme, GCM Grosvenor will implement closed-ended infrastructure investments and open-ended infrastructure will be invested through CBRE Global Infrastructure Fund, IFM Global Infrastructure Fund and Octopus Renewables Infrastructure SCSp.
The appointments follow a rigorous procurement process run by the WPP with investment consultancy firm bfinance. The development will enable efficient and effective access to illiquid asset classes that are fast becoming significant holdings for LGPS funds.
The WPP’s Joint Governance Committee was established in 2017 and is responsible for oversight of the pool’s partner organisations and the services they deliver to the LGPS funds in Wales.
Carmarthenshire County Council acts as Host Authority, liaising day to day with the Pool’s external partners, on behalf of all of the LGPS funds in Wales.
Chris Moore, Director of Corporate Services at Carmarthenshire County Council (Host Authority for the WPP):
“Alternative asset classes have historically been challenging to access in a cost-effective manner. Pooling offers the opportunity to address this challenge. The WPP’s constituent funds have increasing strategic demand for these investments, and we look forward to working with our newly appointed partners to meet this demand.”