SLI wins £140m UNISON Mandate

Leading fund manager, Standard Life Investments today announced that it has been appointed by UNISON, one of the largest trade unions in Britain, to manage an active UK and Overseas Equity portfolio valued at over £140m.

The mandate forms part of UNISON’s Staff Pension Scheme and includes a socially responsible investment and engagement overlay.

Helen Driver, Investment Director, UK Equities will manage 60% of the overall portfolio in UK Equities and Esther Perkins, Investment Director, Global Equities, will manage the remaining 40% in Overseas Equities. The objective will be for each asset class to outperform its respective index (the FTSE All Share and the MSCI World ex–UK) by 2% pa. The appointment follows a comprehensive tendering and evaluation process involving a number of investment houses. UNISON was advised by leading actuarial and investment consultants Lane Clark & Peacock LLP.

Julie McDowell, Head of Socially Responsible Investment, Standard Life Investments, said: “UNISON has been particularly interested in our leading approach to socially responsible investment, which fits seamlessly into the robust and consistent investment process that has been the basis of our success at Standard Life Investments. Our appointment by UNISON provides an ideal example of the way in which SRI can complement and enhance investment goals, whilst enabling clients to adhere to key principles.

“In this case, we are implementing specific screening criteria which exclude investment in tobacco and defence companies as well as companies that play a significant role in Private Finance Initiatives in the UK health and education sectors. UNISON is also keenly interested in engagement with companies on SRI issues, in particular on supporting principles and rights at work and these are all elements we are incorporating within their investment remit. We look forward to working with UNISON and helping them achieve their goals.”

David Limb, Chair of the Trustees of the UNISON Staff Pension Scheme, said of the appointment; “We have applied an SRI policy to our investments for some time. Such a policy, especially when it includes active engagement, is very important to us. I am sure that we have made the correct decision in appointing Standard Life Investments to manage our SRI Equity Portfolio and the Trustees feel that SLI can outperform the benchmark which we have set, within the parameters of our SRI policy. We look forward to working in partnership with Standard Life Investments over the coming years.”