UK pensions and life insurance company Scottish Widows has announced a strategic partnership with asset manager Robeco to co-design sustainable equities indices in developed and emerging markets, in a bid to adjust its index offering to the energy transition.
The collaboration will focus on creating new customised equities indices, which will feature ESG tilts underpinned by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, climate measures, and Scottish Widows’ exclusions policy.
In addition to index development, Scottish Widows, which has approximately £226bn of assets under management, will work alongside Robeco’s sustainable investment centres to produce research and analysis on key responsible investment themes, including the energy transition, nature and deforestation.
This work will inform Scottish Widows’ Climate Action Plan, set to be published later this year.
Eva Cairns, Scottish Widows’ head of responsible investment, said: “By pooling our collective expertise and leveraging Robeco’s depth of research and centre of excellence, we can innovate at pace and deliver a unique set of indices for UK workplace pension savers with responsible investing fitted as standard.”
