USS announced its Net Zero ambitions in May this year. Simon Pilcher, CEO of the wholly-owned investment subsidiary, USS Investment Management, explains what has happened since.
As we have highlighted in the past, USS would be strongly opposed to proposals which could dilute key investor protections and shareholder rights and set a precedent which could lead to unintended consequences for investors in the UK market. USS calls for the retention of the UK’s listing rules on dual class voting structures and free float thresholds and that the principle of one-share, one-vote is protected.
We are currently holding a full valuation to establish how we plan to pay the benefits promised to our members over the coming decades. To the extent we plan to rely on uncertain investment returns, the process involves trying to predict how financial markets might perform over time.
Reflecting the long-term nature of the pension arrangements of our members, we take a long-term approach to investment strategy. The overall balance of our investments in the defined benefit (DB) section reflects the primary objective of any DB pension: to provide members with a set inflation-linked income for life in retirement, regardless of what happens to the economy in the future.
In early May, USS announced its first investment in solar energy. Mike Powell, Head of Private Markets, explains why renewable energy is a growing area of focus for investment.
Climate change is one of, if not the most significant challenge facing our society today, says David Russell, Head of Responsible Investment at USS. Here he explains what we are doing about it.
We are currently holding a full valuation to investigate if and how we can expect to have enough money to pay the benefits promised to our members over the coming decades. To the extent that we plan to rely on investment returns to pay our members’ benefits, the process involves trying to predict how financial markets might perform over time.
The ability to innovate is one of the key benefits of an internal team and we take this seriously as we strive to create the best possible products for our members.
Changes made to the our asset allocation before, and during the pandemic, made a positive impact on performance as we continued to build on our liability-matching capability.