Brunel pension partnership

In 2015 the government announced that they wanted the 89 Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds in England and Wales to combine their investments into pools to achieve a range of benefits, including benefits of scale, achieve savings in investment management costs and encourage more effective management of the investment assets

In response to the requirements, The Oxfordshire Pension Fund formed a grouping with nine other Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds and set up an investment management company, The Brunel Pension Partnership.  

The company is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a full-service MiFID firm. The partnership is one of eight national LGPS investment pools across the UK and brings together c. £35 billion of investments, on behalf of:

• Avon
• Buckinghamshire
• Cornwall
• Devon
• Dorset
• Environment Agency
• Gloucestershire
• Oxfordshire
• Somerset
• Wiltshire. 

Strategy and policy documents

The pension fund has produced an Investment Strategy Statement (ISS) (pdf format, 170Kb), as LGPS Regulations require. This statement sets out the fund’s high-level investment approach, including investment objectives and managing investment risks. The ISS is kept under regular review and revised from time to time, at least every three years to tie in with the triennial actuarial valuation of the fund. 

Recognising the importance of climate change to the long-term performance of the fund’s investments a Climate Change Policy  - June 2020 (pdf format, 168Kb) was developed. In addition, the fund produced an Implementation Plan (pdf format, 84Kb) setting out the actions it would seek to take to achieve the policy goals.

Investment holdings and voting activity

The fund aims to be transparent about its investments.

Holdings for the latest available quarter

The documents below detail the direct holdings of the fund and underlying investments in pooled funds.

• Direct holdings of the pension fund - Whole Fund  (xlsx format, 32Kb)
• Active UK Equity (xlsx format, 24Kb)
• Active Global High Alpha Equities (xlsx format, 33Kb)
• Active Global Sustainable Equities (xlsx format, 33Kb)
• Passive Paris Aligned Equities (xlsx format, 184Kb)
• Passive IL Gilts Over 5 year (xlsx format, 63Kb)
• Multi Asset Credit (xlsx format, 251Kb)
• Sterling Corporate Bonds (xlsx format, 30Kb)

Voting activity

Being a shareholder in a company entitles an investor to cast votes at company meetings and exercise oversight on the way in which companies are managed. The documents below show details of voting activity undertaken on the fund’s behalf.

• Active (xlsx format, 21 KB)
• Passive (xlsx format, 101 KB)

Further details on the approach to voting are included in the Fund’s Investment Strategy Statement and details of voting activity undertaken by Brunel are available on their website.

Responsible investment

The Pension Fund’s Investment Strategy Statement (ISS) (pdf format, 170Kb) sets out its approach to responsible investment and the fund provides regular updates on responsible investment activities undertaken by the fund either directly or through the Brunel Partnership. Responsible investment principles are at the foundation of the fund’s approach to stewardship and underpin the fund's fulfilment of its fiduciary duty to scheme beneficiaries.

In October 2023 a Responsible Investment survey was sent to all members of the Oxfordshire Pension Fund Scheme where an email address is held by Pension Services. The survey was also cascaded through employers and newsletters. There was an excellent response, with 4,026 people filling out the survey. 

The aim was to collect feedback from members on their views about Responsible Investment with an emphasis on understanding what member priorities are in this area.

The Oxfordshire Pension Fund Responsible Investment member survey 2023 (pdf format, 1.7 MB) outlines the key findings from the member responses. The information from this survey will now form part of the context for the development of a Responsible Investment policy, which will identify a set of priority issues on the fund to focus its responsible investment activity on. A draft Responsible Investment Policy (pdf format, 361 KB) is now out for consultation with key stakeholders.

The fund has recently become a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code. The Code sets high standards of stewardship for those investing money on behalf of UK savers and pensioners. Becoming a signatory is a recognition of the work the fund has undertaken in recent years to become a responsible investor. Our Stewardship Code Statement (pdf format, 726Kb) shows how we meet the requirements to become a signatory.

The fund sits on the Responsible Investment Sub-group at Brunel where a wide range of responsible investment topics are discussed between the client funds and Brunel and its providers. In addition, the fund attends cross-pool responsible investment group meetings where best practice is shared between pools and funds.

Member of groups

The fund is also a member of the following groups that are aligned with the delivery of its responsible investment aims:

• Climate Action 100+ focuses on companies with the greatest global emissions footprints to ensure they are taking necessary action on climate change.
• The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change provides support and advice to investors. The Pension Fund is a signatory to IIGCC’s Paris Aligned Investment Initiative.
• Local Authority Pension Fund Forum engages directly with company chairs and boards on behalf of LGPS funds on a range of responsible investment topics.

Climate change

The fund has identified climate change as the single most important factor that could materially impact its long-term investment performance. Given the importance of climate change, it has produced a Climate Change Policy (pdf format, 170Kb) and associated Implementation Plan (pdf format, Kb). Under the policy the fund has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7.6 per cent each year across its investments, in-line with the level of reductions identified by the United Nations in their Emissions Gap report to limit warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century; the goal of the Paris Agreement.

Each year, the fund produces a climate  report (pdf format, 1MB) based on the recommendations from the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The report also provides an update on the climate related activities of the fund over the year and performance against its targets. 

The fund has agreed an Engagement Policy (pdf format, 116Kb) that sets out its expectations of companies on climate-related factors. The policy specifies criteria the fund expects to be met with associated deadlines. Companies who fail to meet the criteria by the specified deadlines will be identified for potential exclusion. This policy forms the position of the Pension Fund in providing input to the Brunel Climate Stocktake that will lead to the production of a revised climate policy document by Brunel in 2023. 

Brunel has also produced a climate change policy and publishes an annual Responsible Investment and Stewardship Outcomes report detailing performance against their responsible investment goals.