On the go: Six in 10 millennials (60 per cent) want their pension investments to be both environmentally and socially sustainable, research from Cushon has found.
The data collected by the net zero pension provider, which polled 2,009 employees with a workplace pension, showed that regardless of age, 51 per cent of savers want to check whether their pension is being invested in socially and environmentally conscious investments.
According to Cushon, there are currently many misconceptions surrounding pensions regulation, as 48 per cent of respondents assumed that pensions must be invested in ESG-compliant companies, or are not aware of the rules governing pension investments.
The research also revealed that 13 per cent of employees said they believe it is illegal for their employers to put their money into a pension pot that contributes to climate change, whereas 45 per cent said there should be rules for the impact of pensions on this area.
Previous research from Cushon showed that every year, 23 tonnes of carbon emissions are financed by UK pension investments.
Ben Pollard, founder and chief executive of Cushon, says: “People clearly want their pensions to be a force for good, and to have a positive impact on things they feel strongly about.
“It’s easy to overlook the power of your pension, but UK pension funds control over £2.5tn of assets. Private markets in the US spent around £15bn building Tesla which is now worth over a trillion dollars. The UK pensions industry could have built Tesla 170 times over.”
