Smart Pension and AXA IM announce biodiversity partnership

Smart Pension, one of the UK’s leading workplace pension providers, has announced a new partnership with AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), focusing on biodiversity. The move further underlines Smart Pension’s strong emphasis on sustainable investing. The pension industry has a golden opportunity to drive faster decarbonisation, by investing in businesses that are serious about cutting their carbon emissions and addressing biodiversity loss. Doing so improves outcomes for savers in both financial growth and outcomes for the environment.

Paul Bucksey, Chief Investment Officer at Smart Pension, commented:

“We are focused on achieving the best outcomes for our members. We want to help them secure not just long-term financial growth but also a safer, healthier world in which they can enjoy retirement. Smart Pension’s flagship growth strategy has invested over 70% in sustainable funds for a while now, which we expect will play a key role in achieving our 2040 net zero target*. We have chosen to partner with AXA IM to incorporate its biodiversity strategy as we seek to improve results further for our members.”

Rachel Basarab-Horwath, Global Head of Pensions at AXA IM, commented:

“At AXA IM, we believe Smart Pension is a perfect partner for our biodiversity strategy, as it has stood as an example to others in its approach to sustainability over recent years. From a corporate perspective the company has an ethos that aligns with AXA IM’s stated aims of actively investing for the long-term to help our clients, our people and the world to prosper. The strategy focuses on four key areas we have identified to help prevent biodiversity loss: sustainable materials, land and animal preservation, water ecosystems, and recycling and recirculation.”

*The AXA WF ACT Biodiversity fund is not a targeted net zero strategy, but the strategy is aligned with AXA Group’s commitment to become a net zero business by 2050.