Avon Pension Fund, Bristol, England, shifted £700 million ($871 million) of its assets into a new Paris Agreement-aligned equity fund managed by BlackRock, a spokeswoman confirmed.
The assets were moved from a passive equity strategy also managed by BlackRock, the spokeswoman added.
In total, the £5 billion pension fund has more than £1 billion in dedicated Paris-aligned index equity strategies, which are replicating investments in companies that pledged to back efforts to limit global temperature increases.
Aside from the new investment, Avon allocates £575 million to sustainable equity strategies and £400 million to renewable infrastructure projects such as solar farms.
"This new investment will help us as we work towards our net-zero goals," said Nathan Rollinson, investment manager at Avon Pension Fund, in a news release. "We're on track to lower the carbon emissions of our equity portfolio by two-thirds by 2030, compared with 2019. Avon has been a proactive responsible investor for over 20 years, and we hope this latest move will lay the foundations for other LGPS pension schemes that face the challenges posed by the transition towards a carbon neutral economy."
