Brunel partners with Hermes on voting and engagement
Brunel Pension Partnership is putting its money where its mouth is by appointing Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS) to assist with voting and engagement.
“A robust approach to engagement and voting is at the core of how Brunel will deliver its stewardship and responsible investment approach,” says Faith Ward, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Brunel. “We’ve chosen to appoint Hermes EOS in part because we’re impressed by their willingness to actively collaborate with our asset managers to ensure joined up and seamless integration. We value the expertise of our managers and expect that having the engagement overlay will equip us to achieve more, both for our shareholder client funds and towards our aim of investing for a world worth living in.”
Ward adds: “Being an engaged, responsible owner is essential to Brunel’s ability to identify and manage risks and opportunities in its investment portfolios. Transparency is our top engagement priority and Brunel will lead by example through doing, and being seen to do, what we expect of others. Our clients will receive quarterly engagement updates, and summary information will be publicly available.”
Stewardship is core to Brunel’s approach to responsible investment, with voting providing a vital tool to reinforce engagement objectives. Brunel will use the power of being a shareholder on behalf of its Clients to hold corporate management to account at Annual General Meetings.
Dr Hans Christoph Hirt (right), Head of Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS), says: “Brunel’s recognition of an asset owner’s fiduciary duty to address ESG concerns and invest responsibly to protect and create long-term value for clients aligns with our own goals as an active steward. Hermes EOS is a global leader in its field and our highly-experienced and skilled team will work collaboratively with Brunel to implement a market leading, global engagement programme to help deliver on its responsible investment policy and achieve the best outcomes for clients. We are thrilled to have been selected as engagement and voting provider and we look forward to working closely with the team at Brunel who are advocates of responsible investing and first-class stewardship.”
About Hermes Investment Management
Hermes Investment Management, a Federated Investors company, provides world-class active investment management and stewardship services. Hermes, headquartered in London, manages £35.3 billion in assets and offers a broad range of specialist, high-conviction investment strategies spanning listed equities, credit, real estate, infrastructure, private debt and private equity. Hermes’ strategies focus not just on financial results, but also on delivering outcomes beyond performance: holistic returns that consider impacts to society, the environment and the wider world. In Hermes EOS, the company offers one of the industry’s leading engagement resources, representing £346.3 billion of assets*. www.hermes-investment.com.
* Source: Hermes AUM as at 30 June 2018 with the exception of two portfolios totalling US$3.7m/£2.6m/€3.0m valued as at 31 May 2018. Hermes AUA as at 30 June 2018.
About Brunel Pension Partnership
Brunel Pension Partnership (Brunel) brings together circa £30 billion investments of 10 likeminded Local Government Pensions Scheme funds. We believe in making long term sustainable investments supported by robust and transparent process. We are here to protect the interests of our clients and their members. In collaboration with all our stakeholders we are forging better futures by investing for a world worth living in.
Brunel is one of eight national pooled funds and will manage the investment of the pension assets for the funds of Avon, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Environment Agency, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire. Find out more at www.brunelpensionpartnership.org
-ENDS-
For more information or high-resolution images, please contact Judy Darley, Communications Manager, judy.darley@brunelpp.org
For information from or about Hermes Investment Management, please contact the Hermes Press Office, +44 (0)20 7680 2218, press@hermes-investment.com