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Border to Coast sets engagement priorities

Posted on August 4th, 2026

A dramatic winter orange sunrise over Border to Coast annual responsible investment reports front cover - Buttermere in the Lake District, UK. The photograph features a bare tree with the Cumbrian mountains in the background covered in snow. Clear reflections can be seen in the lake.

£120bn LGPS pool publishes refreshed Responsible Investment and Engagement strategies.

The strategies reinforce focus on financially material risks and long-term value creation.

Pool sets engagement priorities addressing long-term portfolio risks to 2030.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (Border to Coast) has published refreshed Responsible Investment and Engagement strategies as it continues to strengthen its management of long-term investment risks and opportunities on behalf of Partner Funds.

The strategies, designed in collaboration with Partner Funds, set out how the £120bn LGPS pool will integrate financially material sustainability-related risks into investment decision-making and stewardship activity through to 2030.

The updated Engagement Strategy builds on the success of the previous strategy cycle and continues to strengthen Border to Coast’s stewardship framework. It enhances the pool’s escalation approach and places greater emphasis on board accountability where engagement does not deliver sufficient progress.

In line with the strategy, Border to Coast has identified four engagement priorities that reflect the most financially material long-term risks and opportunities across its portfolios:

Corporate accountability – focusing on governance quality, board effectiveness and accountability to support long-term value creation.
Climate resilience – encouraging credible transition planning, effective governance and business strategies that support long-term portfolio resilience.
Natural capital and biodiversity – encouraging improved assessment and management of nature-related risks, impacts and dependencies.
Fairness in work, pay and prospects – addressing labour-related risks and workforce practices, including advancing fair pay, that can affect long-term company performance and economic resilience.

The Engagement Strategy has been developed alongside a refreshed Responsible Investment Strategy, which identifies the sustainability themes that Border to Coast’s Partner Funds believe are most relevant to long-term investment performance.

Tim Manuel, Head of Responsible Investment, said: “Our updated strategies build on the strong foundations we have established over recent years, and sharpen our focus on the sustainability-related factors that are most material to long-term investment outcomes.

“Good governance, climate resilience, nature-related risks, and workforce issues can all have a bearing on portfolio resilience and long-term returns. Understanding and managing these long-term risks is an important part of our role as a long-term investor and supports Partner Funds in fulfilling their fiduciary duty to their members.”

The new strategies are set out in Border to Coast’s latest annual Responsible Investment and Stewardship Report (RIS) and Annual Sustainability Report (ASR), updating on its progress in protecting and enhancing long-term value for Partner Funds.

The RIS Report highlights significant achievements in the year to 31 March 2026, including:

Retained signatory status to the FRC Stewardship Code for the fifth consecutive year.
Voted at 1,352 investee company Annual General Meetings (AGM), with 13% of votes against management on issues such as board governance and executive pay.
Good Business Charter accredited, recognising our responsible business behaviour.
Leading the integration of just transition with an industry-first overlay.

Writing in the report, Joe McDonnell, Chief Investment Officer, added: “Across the Border to Coast partnership, we see effective stewardship not as an add-on to investment, but as a core component of how we manage risk, allocate capital, and enhance outcomes across portfolios. This requires disciplined engagement with companies and markets on the issues that most directly influence financial performance, alongside a clear willingness to escalate where progress is insufficient.

“The world continues to change and not always predictably. Acting on behalf of our Partner Funds, we need to respond to short-term developments while maintaining a clear focus on delivering returns over the long term. Our Partner Funds are paying members’ pensions today and will continue to do so for decades to come. That long-term horizon shapes how we allocate capital, construct portfolios, and manage risk.”

To read the full Responsible Investment & Stewardship Report and Annual Sustainability Report, click here: Border to Coast corporate reports.

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