The auto-enrolled workplace pension scheme is the UK's largest driver of future retirement wealth. According to the Pensions Policy Institute's 'DC Future Book 2023', this market is projected to reach approximately £800bn by 2030. These workplace pension schemes rely heavily on passive equity investments to generate returns.

In this episode, podcast hosts Charlotte Moore and Charlotte O'Leary are joined by Keith Guthrie, Head of Sustainability at Cardano UK and NOW:Pensions. They discuss the three key areas schemes must address to enhance the sustainability of their investments, along with the challenges these present for pension funds and asset managers. The conversation covers selecting appropriate benchmarks, the importance of effective stewardship, and whether there's a place for impact investing in a workplace portfolio.

Truly purpose-driven organisations have coherent management systems and a healthy corporate culture, which create value for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

In this episode our hosts, Charlotte Moore and Karen Shackleton, are joined by Stuart Woollard, Co-Founder of the Maturity Institute, to discuss how to diagnose organisational maturity and how this methodology can be used to measure the impact of the health of a human organisation. Starting with an overview and definition of organisational maturity and why a human context is necessary to understand the value and risk a company brings, they consider how this holistic approach can help a pension scheme become a better steward and finish with a call to action to the pensions industry.

Charlotte Moore, David Brown and Stephen Levesque discuss all things trees, including the importance of healthy, resilient forests.

Each forestry property varies, with a different range of species and its own mosaic of natural areas that can be managed to create as much complexity as possible in the landscape.

In the episode, our hosts Charlotte Moore and David Brown are joined by Stephen Levesque, Managing Director of Forest Operations at Campbell Global, a J.P. Morgan company.

In a conversation that ranges from biologists and owls to tortoises and Viking ships, the team bring the discussion around to why pension schemes should consider investing in timberland and how forestry management is not all about the environmental 'E' element of ‘ESG’ – the social 'S' factor is important too!