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Responsible investment

Find out more about our commitment to responsible investment

Universal Ownership

Universal Ownership involves having highly diversified and long-term portfolios that, by virtue of their large size, are broadly representative of global capital markets. As a Universal Owner, we are exposed to certain market-wide or systemic issues that could impact the investment returns we seek. And as a responsible investor, we therefore act as an active and engaged long-term owner to address these issues, together with other Universal Owners, to minimise the financial impact they can have on our investments.

Our approach to responsible investment and our responsible investment beliefs and ambitions

USS is a long-term, responsible investor with a legal duty to invest in the best financial interests of our members and beneficiaries, so we can pay pensions long into the future. We believe that when our investments are run effectively and appropriately manage their environmental and social risks, like climate change or biodiversity loss, risk-adjusted returns can be improved over the long term.

That’s why we have redefined our longer-term ambition for responsible investment. We believe that by working with other long-term investors to drive change and by embedding responsible investment into all our investment activities, we can drive better returns and reduce risk. For more on our beliefs and ambitions in this space, see our Responsible Investment Beliefs and Ambition Statement.

Our ambition is to be seen as a visible leader with respect to responsible investment in areas that are key priorities for the scheme:

  • Climate
  • Nature
  • People
  • Governance

We will build on these priorities as part of our revised RI Strategy. They will keep us busy for a very long time as we understand better the investment risks and opportunities from the global climate transition.

How we do it

We integrate financially material environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into our investment decision making and we engage as active, long- term owners of our investments. Our active engagement isn’t just limited to our investments. This may include engaging with policymakers and regulators in the markets we invest in as we believe we have a role to play in promoting the proper functioning of markets and economies.

Ethically screened investing

We appreciate that, across society, ethical (and religious) beliefs are hugely important. They can be intensely personal and part of our identity. For example, people might not want to invest in companies that extract fossil fuels, provide gambling services, or engage in animal testing for cosmetics – regardless of whether they are legally legitimate and financially sound investments. Our investments for the Retirement Income Builder must reflect our legal duty to invest in the best financial interests of our members and beneficiaries. Here, we can only take ethical factors into account where they don’t pose a risk of significant financial detriment, and where we believe that members share each other’s views.

Legally, there is more flexibility when members can choose their own investments. That’s why members with Investment Builder savings can choose to invest these in a manner that may more closely reflect their own ethical preferences. Find out more about options for choosing your investments. 

Exclusions

We believe that certain issues may pose a long-term financial risk and we may choose to avoid certain sectors where a long-term financial risk has been identified. These include tobacco manufacturing and thermal coal mining (where this makes up more than 25% of revenue). We do not invest in issuers involved in the use, production, stockpiling or transfer of cluster munitions in accordance with the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) also known as the Oslo Convention. Nor do we invest in companies that are identified as involved in the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel land mines in accordance with the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, also known the Mine Ban Treaty, or companies engaged in the use, development, production or sale of white phosphorus for offensive purposes.

Take a look at our blogs and the following for more on our commitment to responsible investment and our work in this area:

Document downloads

If you're looking for archived reports that are no longer in use, you can find these on our archived responsible investment material page.  

  • Responsible investment activities

    See what actions we take as part of our responsible investment strategy
    Learn more

  • How to vote

    See how we make our voting decisions
    Learn more

Stewardship Report 2025

Read how we implement our commitments to stewardship and summarise our responsible investment activities and outcomes across all our asset classes.

Download