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22 July 2025
Jack Grogan-Fenn
July 22, 2025
UK pension schemes have created a campaign to promote the importance of effective corporate governance standards and investor rights mechanisms in strengthening UK capital markets and companies.
The Governance for Growth Investor Campaign (GGIC) has been backed by UK pension schemes that have collectively invested more than £60 billion (U$80.8 billion) within the country on the behalf of 11 million savers.
The campaign is chaired by British pension scheme Railpen, with other members including Brightwell, Brunel Pension Partnership, The Church of England Pensions Board and the People’s Pension.
The GGIC is launched at a time when the UK government is pushing pension schemes to invest domestically to catalyse growth within the country, increase international competitiveness and combat declining listings on the stock exchange. Last July, Minerva Analytics reported on updates made to the UK’s listing regime by the Financial Conduct Authority to streamline the rules with the aim of boosting growth and innovation.
The UK government’s growth drive has included confirming a March 2026 deadline for local authority pension funds to join one of six local government pension scheme pools as part of its final Pensions Investment Review report released in May.
While welcoming progress on the government’s reform agenda, Railpen’s Head of Investment Stewardship and Co-Head of Sustainable Ownership Caroline Escott said that this drive is being damaged by the “misperception that the UK’s historic world-leading corporate governance and shareholder rights mechanisms unnecessarily hinder growth, rather than providing the UK with a key differentiator and supporting long-term value creation in the interests of everyday UK savers”.
“Last year’s UK listing changes watered down many longstanding shareholder rights – changes which to date do not appear to have had a positive effect on the UK Initial Public Offering environment,” she added. “Our campaign group of leading UK pension funds, who are already extensive investors in the UK economy, will instead put the evidence-based, ‘governance for growth’ case to policymakers, and will work with others across industry to highlight how good governance goes hand in hand with a growing economy and thriving capital markets.”
The GGIC has called on policymakers to “create a sensible ‘governance for growth’ framework that empowers UK pension schemes, as catalysts for capital creation, to support long-term, sustainable growth that puts future generations of savers at its heart”.
The campaign highlighted that UK pension schemes have already invested £1.4 trillion in British companies. This has the potential to grow further, with the country’s pension schemes cumulatively managing £3.2 trillion on behalf of 38 million members.
The GGIC agreed that more could be done to support UK companies to scale, grow and thrive in the UK. However, its pension scheme supporters said that they need to be “further empowered” to invest in UK capital markets and support the government’s growth goals.
“Evidence shows that effective corporate governance and shareholder rights help companies perform better by making sure they are well-run, transparent, and accountable,” the GGIC stated. “When companies are well-managed and decisions are made in the best interests of all shareholders, they are more likely to grow sustainably, avoid costly mistakes, and attract long-term investment.”
The campaign added that investors will be more willing to invest in firms with strong governance, lowering the cost of capital.
The campaign’s central aim is to provide a UK pension scheme investor perspective on the “value of sensible corporate governance standards and appropriate investor rights” to UK capital markets.
The GGIC has four key policy objectives: securing UK capital allocators a seat in policy discussions on the UK’s capital markets and corporate governance standards; avoiding “artificial divides” between private and public markets; stressing the UK’s status as a capital ‘destination of choice’; and empowering UK pension schemes to help companies grow by recognising the importance of shareholder rights.
The campaign outlined forward-facing potential policy initiatives to “help put governance at the core of the UK economic growth agenda” and realise these four objectives.
To help provide UK capital allocators a seat at the policy table, the GGIC suggested establishing a Treasury pension scheme investor ‘Governance for Growth’ taskforce and inviting pension scheme investors to participate in the new Listings Taskforce. The Listings Taskforce was outlined in the Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy published last week.
The campaign called for the streamlining UK private markets disclosure standards and allowing them to converge to avoid artificial divides between private and public markets.
To underline the UK’s status as a capital ‘destination of choice’ the campaign urged that UK pension scheme investors should be given a more significant role in the country’s international trade mission.
To empower pension schemes to help companies grow, GGIC recommended that companies listing with dual-class share structures should be compelled to provide class-by-class vote disclosure, as well as clarifying that AGMs should permit both virtual and in-person attendance.
“UK pension schemes naturally want to see our capital markets succeed, ensuring we can access well-run, high-performing companies that help deliver good outcomes for members and the economy more broadly,” said Escott. “At a time when government is urging UK pension schemes to boost the economy, it’s fundamental that we have a seat at the capital markets and corporate governance policymaking table to make the case for sustainable growth.”
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