Charity workers want ethical pensions

Nearly three quarters (72%) of charity workers believe their pension should be invested ethically.

Research by the Pensions Trust found charity workers rate ethical investment as one of the most important attributes for their pension scheme.

Other pension attributes rated important by charity workers included value at retirement and company engagement with shareholders.

Seven in ten (69%) wanted their pension provider to consider the environmental, social, and corporate governance performance of investments.

Weapons, pornography and child labour were the top three areas that survey respondents said ethical pension providers should seek to avoid.

“We were interested in which factors people take into account and what their views on ethical investment were,” said Dr Bernadette Kamleitner, author of the study.

“We were positively surprised by the extent of interest uncovered.”

Sarah Smart, chair of trustees at the Pensions Trust, added: “With 61 per cent of respondents claiming that they are likely to invest more responsibly in future, we can clearly see that this is becoming an influential and key deciding factor for people choosing their pension funds.

“At The Pensions Trust, we are committed to providing a service that meets our members needs, and with ethical investment high on the priority list for many, we are currently looking into ways we can upgrade our offering to make responsible investment a key element of our schemes.”

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Charity workers want ethical pensions