The Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (SAUL) has announced plans to adopt pass-through voting for both its defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) plans, in what is thought to be a UK first.

Pass-through voting allows pension schemes to enforce their voting preferences on annual general meeting (AGM) resolutions within their pooled-fund investments.

By adopting this technology, SAUL will be able to uniformly apply its voting policy across its segregated and pooled funds for both DC and DB plans, enhancing its overall stewardship impact.

This is intended to allow the scheme to directly influence decisions on key issues, such as remuneration and climate change, by voting in line with its responsible investment values in pooled funds.

Previously, votes in SAUL's segregated mandates were cast according to its values through a custom voting policy managed by PIRC, while votes for its pooled funds were controlled by Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM).

Announcing the news, SAUL said that it is particularly focused on voting for resolutions at the Climate Action 100+ companies, as well as its top 500 holdings.

The news also follows a similar decision by the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund for Camden, which was highlighted as demonstration of the upward trend of pension schemes taking action to align their voting across their equities.

Both SAUL and Camden are clients of LGIM, which has partnered with Tumelo to offer this voting capability.

Commenting on the news, Saul chief investment officer, Kevin Wade, said: “It’s great to see three of our partners, Legal and General, Tumelo and PIRC, working together to help SAUL implement its voting policy across more of our investments. This will also give SAUL more influence and a stronger voice when engaging with portfolio companies.”

Adding to this, Tumelo CEO, Georgia Stewart, said: "DC pension funds are growing more conscious of their ability to influence the companies their money is invested in. Pass-through voting plays a pivotal role in magnifying their influence, guaranteeing that their investments align with their objectives.

“From here, the stewardship landscape will only become more complex. Tumelo is helping fund managers like LGIM to respond by enhancing their fund offering with vote customisation."

LGIM head of client platforms, Stuart Murphy, also highlighted Saul's decision to vote across all their assets including DC as a new development for the market, stating that "it will be interesting to see if other DC master trusts also follow this path".

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