Fidelity International has launched its Stewardship Hub for pension scheme clients, trustees and advisers in partnership with Tumelo, in what has been described as a ‘market first’.

The hub aims to provide governance and insights for schemes and trustees, and will enable them to look through the underlying fund holdings of a scheme’s portfolios and receive details of the stewardship activities of their fund managers.

It also aims to help trustees produce Implementation Statements as part of their annual reports through its inclusion of Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) statistics and copies of fund manager policies.

Fidelity said the hub aids communication between asset owners and fund managers by providing a centralised place for information, analysis and comparison, which it hopes will streamline data operations while facilitating reporting for fund managers.

It also displays the vote preferences of pension scheme members on different company issues, from climate change to gender equality, where Tumelo’s Shareholder Platform is made available to them.

In line with the Government’s Taskforce on Pension Scheme Voting Implementation, Tumelo aims to enable trustees to extend their fiduciary responsibility to stewardship, and to make sure voting and engagement undertaken by fund managers is in the long-term best interests of members.

The Stewardship Hub will be rolled out in phases to Fidelity Master Trust clients, who will then be able to provide feedback.

“The creation of the Stewardship Hub in partnership with Tumelo emphasises Fidelity’s wider commitment to helping clients achieve their ESG targets while meeting their regulatory obligations via pioneering solutions,” said Fidelity International platform CIO and head of products, Anne-Marie Brennan.

“A market-first, this centralised hub enables better visibility, analysis and communication between fund managers and trustees, ultimately benefiting the thousands of members who look to their pension providers to represent their voices.”

Fidelity Master Trust independent chair of the trustees, Kim Nash, added: “Tumelo is already well-known in the pensions industry for giving investors a transparent view of the companies they own and a shareholder voice on issues they care about.

“By working together, Fidelity and Tumelo have been able to take this one step further by creating a bespoke Stewardship Hub, giving trustees the ability to interact with the stewardship approaches of their fund managers and ensuring the prioritisation of member outcomes.”

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