ACCESS LGPS Pool appoints Minerva as ESG adviser

4 March 2021

The ACCESS Pool has appointed Minerva Analytics, Europe’s leading independent stewardship support service, to support the development of its responsible investment approach.

Minerva Analytics will be helping ACCESS with a comprehensive review and revision of the pool’s responsible investment guidelines to ensure they capture the very latest thinking on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), Stewardship and Climate Change issues.

Through workshops and a programme of in-depth research, Minerva’s expert team will establish a baseline on a wide range of ESG and responsible investment issues across the full range of asset classes for the pool. The ACCESS Joint Committee will use Minerva’s analysis and recommendations to inform their future actions and to meet the requirements and ambitions of Authorities within the pool.

ACCESS is a collaboration of 11 LGPS Authorities which enables investments on behalf of more than one million members and 3,250 public sector employers, consisting of over £31bn of pension assets1.

Cllr Kemp-Gee, Chairman of the ACCESS Joint Committee, said, “Our objective is to develop a best-in-class investment offer for our LGPS Authorities, and a significant part of that process is ensuring responsible investment practices are well informed and effectively deployed.

“This collaboration with Minerva will give us the tools and data to help fulfil long term responsibilities to the schemes and their members.

Commenting on the appointment, chief executive of Minerva, Sarah Wilson said: “We’re delighted to be appointed by ACCESS and are looking forward to working with the team on this important and timely project. Minerva continues to build on its 25-year track record with the LGPS community, supporting them through this period of immense regulatory and market change with innovative solutions.”

Source: ACCESS Pool