Our pension fund investment is managed by a trustee body. The trustees maintain a Statement of Investment Principles and this includes their policy on social, ethical and environmental considerations.

This policy is categorised as socially responsible investment, and is regularly reviewed. It states that:

In fulfilling its obligation to act in the best interests of beneficiaries the trustee's objective is to maximise investment return (with due regard to the appropriate level of risk) and to achieve long-term progressive growth of the value of the fund.

In furtherance of this objective the Trustee has confirmed to its active managers that it requires decisions on whether to buy, sell or retain investments to take into account the reputation and standing of each company in the marketplace including their social, environmental and ethical conduct as matters which are relevant to both the current and anticipated future financial performance of the investment.

The trustees also recognise that this principle does not extend to the portion of the fund invested passively because it is the index weighting of a stock rather than its financial characteristics that are relevant to the manager's investment decisions, although the manager is encouraged to make its view on SRI factors known to the companies in which it invests.