UK Pension Replaces State Street With Invesco, Amundi for $35B Mandate

The $40 billion People’s Pension’s moved the vast majority of its assets away from State Street Global Advisors to stay aligned with the fund’s responsible-investment policy.

The People’s Pension, a defined contribution master trust fund in the U.K. with 32 billion pounds ($40 billion) announced Thursday that the plan had chosen investment managers Invesco and Amundi to manage 28 billion pounds ($35 billion) of the plan’s assets.

Amundi (U.K.) Ltd. will manage 20 billion pounds for the pension in a passive developed market equity portfolio. Invesco Ltd. will manage 8 billion pounds in fixed-income assets.

State Street Global Advisors will manage the remaining 4 billion pounds of the plan’s assets, a scant remaining share after State Street had formerly managed the entire portfolio. The People’s Pension recently pulled 28 billion pounds from State Street, all of which is being reinvested in the two managers, according to reports.

“SSGA is focused on providing best-in-class service to our clients and growing our franchise in the UK Defined Contribution market and the other markets we serve,” a spokesperson for State Street said via email. “Our business has been expanding in recent years as we form new partnerships, and we have a strong pipeline of opportunities for 2025. We look forward to continuing our work with The People’s Pension on the remaining mandates.”

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Invesco and Amundi were selected by the fund due to their alignment with the pension fund’s stewardship approach and priorities, which include responsible investing.

“We have a responsibility to deliver strong, sustainable returns for our members and a best-in-class investment strategy,” said Dan Mikulskis, CIO at the People’s Partnership, the entity which manages the People’s Pension, in a statement. “Both managers bring exceptional expertise and share our commitment to responsible investment, which is central to our approach.”

In the U.S., State Street, as well as other large asset managers such as BlackRock and Vanguard, have been the target of political attacks over what was viewed as the firms’ overcommitment to environmental, social and governance investment policies.

State Street left climate investing organizations, including its departure from Climate Action 100+ on February 13. Similar groups like the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative and the Net Zero Banking Alliance have seen scores of signatories quit recently.

In the U.S., membership in these groups led to divestments, such as the Indiana Public Retirement System pulling $1 billion from BlackRock due to the firm’s ESG commitments. An Indiana law prohibits pension funds from making investments with managers determined to have made ESG commitments. At the time, BlackRock’s membership in organizations like NZAM was cited as such a commitment.

Asset owners, especially in Europe, have criticized managers who left these climate-oriented investing organizations. PME Pensioenfonds of the Netherlands announced in January it would reconsider the future of 5 billion euros it had invested with BlackRock due to the manager’s diminishing ambitions and efforts to support sustainable investing, following BlackRock’s exit from NZAM.

“By selecting Amundi and Invesco, we have chosen to prioritize sustainability, active stewardship, and long-term value creation for our near seven million members,” said Mark Condron, chair of the People’s Pension’s board of trustees, in a statement.