Scottish Widows said workplace pension savers will soon be able to view the sustainable impact of their pension investments using a new mobile phone app.
Scottish Widows’ Find Your Impact (FYI) app will provide members of employer pension schemes with their own personalised sustainability impact ratings within seconds, based on the companies and funds they are invested in via their workplace pension.
Members will also be able to voice their opinion on a wide range of investment topics, issues and proposals, including questions on specific companies and their practices through FYI.
The company said it hoped FYI would help drive interest and engagement in pensions by making it simple for people to see how and where their money was invested.
“Using in-depth data analytics, FYI assesses companies’ carbon footprint, waste and board diversity to provide members with a clear overview of where their money is invested and whether these companies are making a positive impact across these areas,” Scottish Widows said.
“In a first for UK workplace pensions, members will also be able to see how their investments are performing financially alongside seeing their pension’s performance on a range of sustainability parameters, bringing financial and non-financial performance together in one place.”
Scottish Widows committed earlier this year to halving the carbon footprint of its entire £170 billion portfolio of investments by 2030, on its path to reaching net zero by 2050.
Maria Nazarova-Doyle, Scottish Widows’ Head of Pension Investments and Responsible Investments, said: “Find Your Impact will encourage workplace scheme members to engage more closely with their pension, by giving them greater transparency over where it is invested and let them see the impact these investments have on the planet and society, as well as showing their financial performance.
“By having this information at their fingertips, we hope it will encourage people to take an active interest in their pensions, how their savings are performing and where their money is invested.
“The tool also has a ‘have your say” feature which will be used to collect the views of our members about what they want and expect from the companies we invest their money in.
“This will be taken into consideration as we shape our broader responsible investment and stewardship strategy.”