EAPF invests in sustainable credit, most schemes plan for net zero

EAPF adds North American climate focus

The Environment Agency Pension Fund has become the cornerstone investor in Lombard Odier Investment Managers’ newly launched sustainable private credit fund. EAPF has made the first commitment to the LOIM Sustainable Private Credit strategy, which seeks to “provide primarily bilateral senior secured private loans to diversified North American climate, transition-oriented industries”, a statement from the asset manager read. The strategy is designed to deliver structured liquidity within less-efficiently financed markets, while pursuing risk-adjusted returns that are expected to be less market-correlated than traditional direct lending strategies.

This article first appeared on MandateWire.com

Almost three-quarters of schemes will soon have net zero plans

Seventy-four per cent of schemes have net zero plans in place, or will do within the next two years, according to a Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association survey. Just under two-thirds of schemes have commenced work on their Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures reports, with 55 per cent claiming they are on course to publish their reports this year. More than a quarter, meanwhile, have already published their TCFD reports. The survey also revealed attitudes on stewardship, with 68 per cent of schemes prioritising their climate transition plans. More than half of schemes identified net zero targets as their prime concerns, while 37 per cent of schemes place board diversity and 35 per cent view human rights as priorities.

Scottish Widows and Sackers launch climate change guides

Master trust provider Scottish Widows and law firm Sackers have both issued climate change advice for trustees. Scottish Widows has put forward the case for the pensions industry’s role in driving forward what it calls a low-carbon “just transition” of the economy, “without leaving people behind”. It highlighted opportunities for impact investing, place-based investing, engagement and divestment opportunities as part of the transition, and suggested that “wherever possible, and when the data allows, investors should incorporate the just transition into their investment approach”. Sackers, meanwhile, set out trustees’ legal obligations on climate, which include exercising their investment powers for their “proper purposes” — namely the provision of members’ pensions — as well as taking account of related financially material factors and doing so in line with the “prudent person” test, which is the principle that trustees’ investment powers must be exercised with the “care, skill and diligence” that a prudent person would exercise.