Royal London has introduced ‘tilts’ to its pension range as part of its drive to reduce carbon equivalent emissions from its investment portfolio.
The mutual life insurance and pensions group said the changes would result in the carbon intensity of the equity investment in its flagship ‘Governed Range’ reducing by more than 10%.
The range currently has around 1.25 million customers’ pensions invested in it.
Royal London said the ‘tilted’ equity funds will increase holdings of companies with good environmental, social and corporate governance practices and reduce holdings in companies with poorer practices, which will improve the overall ESG profile of the funds without significantly impacting risk or returns.
Julie Scott, chief commercial officer at Royal London, said: “This is not the time to be passive on ESG. The introduction of these ‘tilts’ to our pension range is part of investing our customers’ money responsibly to make a positive difference to the planet. We will also continue to engage with companies to promote positive change.
“We are committed to making investing responsibly easy. That’s why we are making this enhancement to our default pension fund range with no extra charge to our customers.”
Royal London has pledged to reduce carbon equivalent emissions from its investment portfolio by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.
