Al Gore speaks at "Harnessing Capital Markets for a Sustainable Future"

This post is about the speech that former US Vice President Al Gore gave at the ShareAction (formerly Fair Pensions) annual lecture on March 15 in the City of London Guildhall.

By coincidence I was sitting next to UNISON Assistant General Secretary, Liz Snape and her eldest daughter.

The Lord Mayor of London welcomed the (packed) audience to this historic site. Catherine Howarth, the CEO of ShareAction spoke about the dominate role that finance plays in our economy and the impact on democracy. Also what impact pension auto enrolment will have when many millions of people will become shareholders for the first time.

Then “The Al Gore” came onto the stage. I must admit that I didn’t know that much about Al Gore but you have to admire the massively impressive, articulate, passionate, old fashioned barn storming 30 minute speech he gave. He put nearly all UK political speakers to shame.

I hadn’t realised either that he had started off life as a Tennessee farmer and he gave a typical folksy small town America tale (“I’m feeling fine – don’t shoot me”) which I have heard before but never said so well, which was to amuse and relax the audience.

He then praised capitalism as the most efficient and superior economic system there has ever been, then tore it down by reminding us of its many failings such as its inability to measure what is truly important such as social well being and climate change. He asked why is the atmosphere used as a carbon sewer?

He discussed the fiduciary duties of pension funds and the mandates and incentives given to fund managers. Why do pension fund managers only concentrate on the short term? – because that is what the pension fund trustees pay them to do!

In the Q&A I asked him as a UNISON trade union pension trustee if the failure of pension funds to make long term sustainable investments is due in part to the decline in recent decades of organised Labour. In the past workers and managers worked together as partners. He said he had never been asked that question before but would think about it (which meant he either thought it was a brilliant unique insight... or that no other idiot had ever asked such as stupid question before). He did say that union nominated trustees can make a real difference to the way their funds are managed.

He asked us to think about what are the values in the boardroom you invest in, how does a company treat its employees and the communities where they operate. There should be a systematic investigation of sustainability factors as a necessary part of any investment process. The current system is functionally insane and incentives drive towards systemically irrational decisions.

(and I agree Mr Vice President).

Fund managers index of shame

Fair Pensions have issued their latest rankings of "ethical" fund managers.

Which to be absolutely frank is deeply disturbing. Especially since many fund managers who claim to be ethical would be appearing to act in a completely irresponsible and unresponsive manner?

How on earth can only 11% of fund managers screen out child labour? Does that mean that the other 89% think its a good idea kids don't go to school and spend their formative years in sweat shops?

Why  do so called ethical fund managers refuse to respond to such surveys? What on earth do they have to hide?

What is going on? 2/3 of funds that claim to to ethical do not even engage with the companies they own?

Some of fund managers who performed badly (to be polite) are employed by pension funds that I am a trustee on. I will look forward to some interesting conversations in the future with them on this subject. 

Fair Pensions Living Wage Standards (& poverty pay Metropolitan)

Late yesterday I attended most of a briefing by Fair Pensions on their campaign to get a Living Wage for all employees and subcontractors of the FTSE 100.

Check out my twitter feed for 5 November for some of the stuff I found interesting.

Some key points from seminar: Fair Pensions CEO Catherine Howarth, that they had some form of contact with 50% of FTSE 100 companies and 11% are or will be Living Wage employers.

While Rhys Morgan, the Director of the Living Wage Foundation said that 80% of employers who pay a living wage found that quality of work was improved. I was glad that he also quoted Labour Leader Ed Miliband as saying that a Living wage was "important but not the summit of our ambitions". UNISON argues for a Living Wage "plus" - not just £8.30 per hour (as welcome as it is) but also decent sickness pay, pensions, annual leave as well as trade union recognition and collective bargaining.

I had to leave early for a Pension committee meeting.

It is also rather ironic that during the "Living Wage week" that UNISON is running a campaign against Metropolitan Housing Association, which claims to be a charity and responsible employer.  Yet it paid £412,000 to get rid of its former CEO, while at the same time planning to pay its care workers less than a living wage and employ part time staff on poverty rates, so their their wages will be topped up by the taxpayer. How completely disgusting and shameful.

If you work for Metropolitan or want to show solidarity sign the Petition here and read the comments by staff who in 2012 face being forced below the poverty line not above.  

AMNT newsletter October 2012 - meeting review; Fair Pensions invitation; Pensions Regulator message

- Download the reports presented at our last meeting
- Invitation from Fair Pensions during Living Wage Week
- Message to you from the Regulator

Dear member,

Last month’s AMNT members’ meeting was a success, with informative presentations and discussions on the thorny issue of investment management fees.

The meeting began with an overview of recent association activity from the co-chairs, Janice Turner and Barry Parr.


Barry explained how our efforts to sign up sponsors has been progressing well, with a couple of companies already signed up and a few more well on the way. We hope to provide you with full details of these when they are confirmed.

 



We then heard from Janice how the AMNT’s campaign to promote smoothing of DB discount rates was going well, with national press coverage and positive feedback from the pensions minister, Steve Webb.

 

There was then a presentation by Hari Mann of the RSA, who has worked with David Pitt-Watson on an influential report looking at the lack of transparency within investment management charges and how this can be damaging to pension savers.

 

The paper can be downloaded by clicking here, and the RSA’s other publications can be accessed by clicking here. Committee member John Gray’s review of Hari’s talk can be found by clicking here.

 

This was followed by a talk by John Simmonds of CEM Benchmarking. The company undertakes research into investment fees paid by pension schemes. His presentation can by found by clicking here.

 

CEM has offered AMNT members the chance to take part in their ongoing research. Schemes that take part will be entitled to a free personalised report. An example of such a report can be found by clicking here.

 



As an example of the type of information CEM would require, an example survey questionnaire can be found by clicking here. For more information on how to take part, contact John Simmonds by emailing johns@cembenchmarking.com.

Invitation from Fair Pensions

AMNT member Catherine Howarth, who is also chief executive of lobby group Fair Pensions, has sent the following invitation to members:

I would like to invite you to an event during Living Wage Week for pension trustees and other investors in FTSE 100 companies. The event, which is kindly hosted by Aviva Investors and in conjunction with the Living Wage Foundation, will mark 18 months since the launch of a collaborative investor initiative to promote Living Wage standards in the UK’s largest private companies.

The event will be an opportunity to hear from FTSE 100s that have become Living Wage employers as well as from a variety of investors who are supportive of the standards. It will be a chance to learn about the practicalities of implementation and about employer accreditation.

In May 2011, a £13bn coalition of institutional investors wrote jointly to the CEOs of the FTSE 100 inviting them to adopt Living Wage standards across their UK operations. Since then a productive dialogue between companies and their investors has developed on this topic, and a growing number of companies has either made progress towards Living Wage standards or has fully adopted and implemented them.

This event on November 5 will be part of Living Wage Week, which will see a range of events held across the country to celebrate the growing profile and uptake of Living Wage standards as a mark of organisational responsibility. The week begins on Monday morning with an announcement by Mayor Boris Johnson of the new London rate.

I very much hope that you will be able to join us. All members of the AMNT would be very welcome and it would be great to talk about whether you could notify people in the network. Please RSVP to Tom Scott (tom.scott@fairpensions.org.uk).

Pensions Regulator record-keeping message

We have also been contacted by the Pensions Regulator, who have written the following message for members:

In 2010, The Pensions Regulator set specific targets regarding ‘common data’ – such as name, address and date of birth – and gave trustees until the end of 2012 to achieve this.
 
The targets required that of these common data items:
 
- 100% should be in place for member data created after the beginning of June 2010
- 95% should be in place for member data created before June 2010.
 
By now, the regulator expects schemes to have taken significant steps to meet these targets. These steps include measuring their scheme data, and having a corrective plan in place where that data is found to be poor. Scheme administrators are ready to work with trustees on this, and failing to take action may lead to a breach of internal control requirements.
 
More information on record-keeping is available on the regulator’s website, including regulatory guidance, online learning resources and a new checklist for trustees.
 
To learn more about how poor data and record-keeping can impact schemes, join regulator staff in a 45-minute webinar at 11am on Tuesday October 16.
 
Regulatory case and policy leaders Victoria Holmes and Louise Hallard will discuss the risks of poor data as well as what action trustees should take now.  Places on the webinar are limited, so register now to reserve your place.
 
You can get on the regulator’s website by clicking here. You can also register for the webinar by clicking here.

Kind regards, AMNT Committee

Fair Pensions: Change the World from your Workplace

Its a pity but I won't be able to attend this Fair Pensions training day in November due to a clash. 

 

"Become a Workplace Responsible Investment Champion

TRAINING DAY: Saturday, 17^thNovember 2012 (10am - 4.30pm)
UNISON Centre, 130 Euston Road, London NW1 2AY

FairPensions is running a day-long training for people who want to use the power of their pension fund to campaign for social and environmental justice.

If you belong to a workplace pension scheme this training is open to you.

Pension funds have huge economic clout and can rapidly bring concerns to the attention of top decision-makers in the business world. Whether it’s low pay, child labour, excessive executive bonuses or climate change, our pension funds have the power and responsibility to challenge corporate injustice.

Your pension fund takes care of your long-term savings and that gives you the right to have your say.

At the training you will learn:

• How and where your pension fund invests your savings.
• How to communicate effectively with your pension provider about responsible investment.
• How to campaign on a wide range of environmental and social issues using shareholder activism as a powerful tool for change.
• How to build wider support for responsible investment amongst your colleagues and by your employer.

Trainees will leave the workshop with practical skills and tools for shareholder activism. You will also receive simple written materials and guides to responsible investment.

FairPensions is building a UK-wide network of Responsible Investment Champions. After the training you will join that growing network.

Learning about the power of the financial system will be invaluable for your wider campaigning goals and objectives.

If you care about ethics at work, join us on the 17^th November and become a champion for a better world!

We encourage you to come with a work colleague if possible, though you're welcome to come on your own! Please note that there is limited space for this event and we expect it to fill quickly.

RSVP to me at nataliedotlangfordatfairpensionsdotorgdotuk and make sure you include the name of your workplace.

We look forward to seeing you there.
All the best,
Natalie and the FairPensions team

P.S. Please forward this to anyone you know with a passion for change.