UK pensions minister Torsten Bell has confirmed that the government plans to develop statutory guidance for pension trustees on how to comply with their fiduciary duty in considering systemic risks, including climate change, when making investment decisions. MPs were aiming to add an amendment to the country’s Pension Schemes Bill giving trustees comfort in considering systemic issues. However, Bell said there were “advantages to consulting more fully and retaining an ability to be responsive to future developments”, so the government plans to legislate on developing the guidance separately. More information will be made available in “a matter of months”, he said.
UK scheme trustees have long called for more legal certainty on their fiduciary duty, and ShareAction partnered with law firm Sackers to draft the amendment, which would have explicitly permitted trustees to consider beneficiary standards of living and manage “system-level considerations” in their investment strategy.
A spokesperson for ShareAction said the NGO welcomed Bell’s commitment “to legislate to address the confusion over legal duties of pension scheme and their trustees, which we warmly welcome”. They warned, however, that statutory guidance alone does not provide legal clarity. “It need not be followed, and, on its own, is at risk of potential misuse by a future government. Such problems could be avoided and the current lack of clarity could be resolved with legislation backed by statutory guidance, as proposed in Amendment NC17.”
Eurosif has warned that “extensive” reliefs granted to preparers of reports under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) risk becoming common practice without requirements for companies to establish timelines for full compliance. The industry body broadly welcomed the streamlined structure of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) published by EFRAG on Wednesday. However, it expressed concerns that “cross-cutting reliefs, especially those based on ‘undue cost or effort’… risk turning these reliefs into common practice rather than exceptional measures and undermines the credibility and comparability of reports for investors” without requirements for companies to establish timelines.
Eurosif urged the European Commission to adopt the revised delegated acts “without further weakening EFRAG’s proposals, while adding necessary time limits to companies’ reliefs”. “Any further cut in data points, or new exemptions, would undermine the relevance of the ESRS and their usability for investors,” it added.
Asset owners are increasingly concerned over the risk to portfolios posed by climate change, according to a global asset owner survey by FTSE Russell. Eighty-five percent of the 415 respondents ranked the impact of climate risk as a major concern, up from 76 percent last year. More broadly, the proportion of asset owners citing fiduciary duty as a motivating factor for sustainable investment almost tripled from 14 to 42 percent, while client demand increased from 29 percent last year to 42 percent. “Societal good” fell 2 percentage points year-on-year.
The Transition Pathway Initiative has launched consultations on its frameworks for assessing sovereigns and banks. The consultation, which runs until the end of January, is seeking market views on a range of changes to both the ASCOR framework – covering sovereigns – and its net zero banking assessment Framework.
Van Lanschot Kempen’s catastrophe bond allocation returned 12 percent over 2025, according to managing director Patrick Race. Speaking at Edelman Smithfield’s 2025 investor conference, Race said the asset class “has been a good place to be” over the past year, with the firm investing “at the very senior end”. HANetf partnered with specialist firm King Ridge Capital to launch Europe’s first catastrophe bond ETF earlier this week. The strategy, charging a total expense ratio of 1.28 percent, will invest in a globally diversified portfolio of catastrophe bonds.