Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, Leeds, England, selected Robeco Institutional Asset Management to provide shareholder voting and engagement services, said Rachel Elwell, the partnership CEO.
The £43 billion ($57 billion) asset pool made up of 12 U.K. local government pension funds will have Robeco vote at shareholder meetings and engage with senior management of listed companies to establish sustainable business practices.
Initially, Robeco's voting and engagement services will cover £10 billion in equity investments under the management of the pool, Ms. Elwell said. "We have a two- to three-year transition period, after which Robeco will start to look after more assets, and beyond equity," Ms. Elwell added. But for now, the hire won't affect current mandates or any arrangements that individual pension funds still maintain outside of the pool.
"We were impressed by Robeco's breadth of engagement across all asset classes and geographies, especially in emerging markets and Asia, and by their level of detailed research and analysis. It was also important to us that this analysis could be incorporated into our own investment processes and philosophy," Ms. Elwell said in a news release.
Ms. Elwell said that Hermes Investment Management, BMO Global Asset Management, GES International and Pensions & Investment Research Consultants were among the candidates.
