Barnet’s pension fund has been nominated for two awards after a turnaround saw the fund go from investing millions in fossil fuel companies to being recognised as a “leading voice” on climate-related investment.
The council’s pension fund has been nominated for the Investment Innovation Award at the Local Authority Pension Fund Awards 2024 for its development of a ‘net-zero’ portfolio.
The fund has also been nominated for ‘Local Government Pension Scheme Fund of the Year’ and the council will also take on a leadership role among other London local authorities around climate-related investing.
The news comes after an investigation by Friends of the Earth and Platform London carried out in 2023 found around £35.2million of the fund was invested in fossil fuel companies in the 2021/22 financial year.
In response, the chair of the pension fund committee, councillor Simon Radford, said at the time findings were “welcome” and instead of divesting from fossil fuel companies the council had embarked on a “more ambitious path”.
This involved transitioning the “entire portfolio” with a goal of “achieving net zero while still securing the funds needed to pay pensions”.
In terms of this target the council has made good on its promise.
Responding to the news of the nominations, Cllr Radford said the “incredible progress” had been made over the last few years.
He named officers from the council’s pension fund team led by David Spreckley, and supported by Mark Fox and Adam McPhail as key reasons behind the shift.
Cllr Radford said: “Win or lose, being shortlisted is a tremendous endorsement of a lot of hard, painstaking work.”
Council leader Barry Rawlings said: “Careful financial management, much greater transparency with the fund’s beneficiaries, and responsibility for our wider social impact embodies the approach of Barnet Council as a whole.
“I warmly congratulate the team for this great achievement”.
Local Democracy Reporter Grace Howarth covers the London boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), reporting on local government, housing, planning and community issues.
