Universities Superannuation Scheme

The financial institution publishes an engagement or stewardship report detailing the outcomes of its efforts on sustainability impact topics. Furthermore, it has a stewardship policy that promotes environmental transitions and social best practices aligned with its sustainability strategy.

In terms of governance, it maintains a gender balance (40-60%) at the senior executive level. Finally, the financial institution discloses its positions on sustainability topics in lobbying and political engagement activities and transparently identifies key sectors, clients, and investees for climate-focused engagement.

The financial institution has the opportunity to publicly disclose a policy statement against bribery and corruption and to conduct third-party assurance or verification of its target reporting. It is further recommended to link senior executive remuneration performance criteria to specific sustainability targets. While a list of trade associations focused on sustainability is disclosed, a full membership list of trade associations should be disclosed, as well as further details on stakeholder engagement in lobbying and public policy alignment with sustainability strategy could be provided.

The financial institution has targets to contribute to sustainable growth, the specific share devoted to climate mitigation solutions should be further specified. Further recommendations include monitoring scope 3 emissions by category, establishing a transition plan for operations, supply chain, and portfolio, and ensuring scope 1-3 emissions reductions align with interim targets.

It is suggested that the financial institution disclose the breakdown of clients by income group as well as processes to avoid unintended divestment from low-income countries due to sustainability strategies. Moreover, their risk assessment process should include ILO fundamental rights at work, with a mitigation process for identified risks. Finally, the institution should identify social risks related to the net zero transition and provide examples of conclusions and actions taken regarding salient human rights issues from assessments in the past three years.

This scorecard refers to information in English which was publicly available by July 15 2024. AuM and Total assets are stated in USD for comparability and have been calculated based on reported local currency values multiplied by applicable IMF currency converter values.