The Scheme’s main objective is to ensure there are sufficient assets to pay the right benefits at the right time to members and their beneficiaries under the Rules of the Scheme.
This commitment is central to how the Scheme thinks about its investments and this is mirrored in BTPS’ responsible investment mission statement:
“The Scheme’s investments should be managed to create sustainable long-term value, supporting the generation of optimal investment returns to ensure the Scheme can pay all benefits in full”.
The implications of this statement in terms of governance, investment strategy, portfolio management and reporting are set out in the Responsible Investment Policy.
In the latest assessment exercise by the PRI, we were pleased to achieve an overall A+ for our work on responsible investment.
The assessment is based on signatory responses to the PRI Reporting Framework and is carried out annually to assess the responsible investment activities undertaken by each signatory during the year.
The scheme also supports the recommendations made by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which can be read in the 2023 TCFD Report.
In March 2024, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) confirmed BTPS’ continued signatory status to the UK Stewardship Code. The UK Stewardship Code sets high standards with a set of 12 principles on reporting stewardship activities and outcomes which asset managers and asset owners like BTPS must demonstrate they meet.
Voting and engagement
Stewardship is central to our investment philosophy and we seek to act as a responsible and engaged owner of the companies in which we invest.
EOS at Federated Hermes is the Scheme’s primary provider of stewardship services, including voting and engagement. Where engagement is fundamental to the investment strategy and they can demonstrate sufficient capabilities, the Scheme may appoint an investment manager to undertake stewardship services for their specific mandate instead of EOS.
EOS and, where applicable, investment managers are mandated to execute all votes for the Scheme’s directly held public securities. Where relevant, proxy voting activity is undertaken as part of a wider engagement strategy.
More information on the Scheme’s approach to stewardship, together with the latest voting and engagement reports, can be found under the relevant links.
Regulatory reporting
Read our annual report and accounts and other regulatory reports.
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