The UK’s £3bn Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (SAUL) pension fund has adopted pass-through voting for both its DC and DB plans.
SAUL, the pension provider for the University of London, has embraced pass-through voting through a split voting service jointly offered by LGIM and stewardship fintech Tumelo.
This technology enables SAUL to uniformly apply its voting policy across segregated and pooled funds in both its DB and DC plans, aiming to ensure voting consistency across all of its holdings.
SAUL is the second UK pension fund and the first DC fund to adopt the pass-through voting service offered by Tumelo and LGIM, following the £2bn pension fund for the London Borough of Camden, which adopted the technology last year.
Other pension funds, including the DC master trust Smart Pension, have either provided seed capital to funds offering split voting or have engaged with their managers to expand the availability of split voting services.
Some of the world’s largest asset managers, including BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard, have begun to roll out split voting services to their institutional clients.
However, many asset owners feel that progress on stewardship rights within pooled funds is still too slow.
In December last year, the SAUL pension fund joined forces with Scottish Widows, Merseyside Pension Fund, the Environment Agency, Smart Pension, EQ Investors, Tribe Impact Capital, and the Superannuation and Guy's & St Thomas' Foundation to send an open letter to asset managers demanding more influence over stewardship decisions.
Kevin Wade, CIO of SAUL, expressed confidence that the new collaboration will enhance the fund’s ability to exercise influence: “It’s fantastic to see three of our partners, Legal and General, Tumelo, and PIRC, working together to help SAUL implement its voting policy across more of our investments. This will also give SAUL more influence and a stronger voice when engaging with portfolio companies.”
Georgia Stewart, CEO of Tumelo, believes that the UK’s rapidly expanding DC market could play a key role in advancing stewardship standards: "DC pension funds are becoming more conscious of their ability to influence the companies in which their money is invested. Pass-through voting plays a pivotal role in magnifying their influence, ensuring that their investments align with their objectives. From here, the stewardship landscape will only become more complex. Tumelo is assisting fund managers like LGIM to respond by enhancing their fund offerings with vote customisation."
UK asset owners call for wider adoption of pass-through voting
