Just over 50 per cent of UK pension funds hold some form of impact investment, a survey conducted by Pensions for Purpose has revealed.

The survey, which was sponsored by Big Society Capital, showed that UK pension funds are increasingly taking impact investing into consideration, with 90 per cent of respondents looking to make impact investments in the UK.

Social infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools, and social and affordable housing were the most popular social impact investments for investors, with 78 per cent and 44 per cent investing in those areas respectively.

When asked which of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals the funds are targeting, those relating to the environment were the most commonly cited, with 100 per cent intent on to targeting climate action.

A greater awareness of product and environmental issues were cited as the main reasons why more funds are directed to environmental impact investments rather than social, as 58 per cent cited a greater awareness of climate issues than social ones and 42 per cent reported a lack of suitable social impact investment products.

More education was welcomed by scheme managers and trustees to improve their awareness of social issues and suitable impact investment products that help provide solutions to those issues.

Pensions for Purpose CEO, Charlotte O’Leary, commented: “UK pension funds represent £2.2trn in assets (according to the 2019 ONS survey) and that is only going to grow with auto-enrolment.

“This represents a significant pool of capital that can be allocated to not just mitigate the risks associated with climate change and social inequity but also to invest in the solutions to those systemic risks.

“While other pension fund markets around the world have reallocated capital to increase private investment, the UK has lagged behind. Impact investing provides the perfect opportunity to revisit allocations to private markets, recognising that opportunities in social impact investment do exist and are being made by pension funds around the UK.

“This report highlights the perceived and real challenges and solutions in social impact investment with some very powerful case studies, but there is no doubt that more education and greater transparency is required in the market.”

Big Society Capital investor relationships director, Katie Fulford-Smith, added: “It is right that pension funds are directed towards mitigating the impact of climate change, but supporting communities and tackling some of our most pressing social issues goes hand in hand with successfully reaching net zero.

“When people’s primary focus is shelter and food, greener living is not a consideration.
“Our investments must help society level up to enable the green transition – and with pension funds now being worth a total of £2.2trn, they have considerable power to help achieve this.

“Fortunately, the social impact investment market is growing considerably, having rocketed nearly eight-fold from £833m in 2011 to £6.4bn in 2020.

“To meet this demand, we are working to increase the number of investment options in social impact and improve understanding of the vast benefits to the investor and investee.”

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