Michelle Scrimgeour and Faith Ward
Former Legal & General Investment Management chief executive Michelle Scrimgeour has been honoured with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the King's Birthday Honours, while Brunel Pension Partnership’s Faith Ward received a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Scrimgeour received the CBE award for services to the asset management industry.
Ward, the chief responsible investment officer at Brunel Pension Partnership, was appointed as an MBE for services to pensions and to the environment.
Other pension and investment industry professionals recognised include Octopus Money's Ruth Handcock, who was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to financial services and investment; and Better Society Capital chief investment officer Anna Shiel who received an MBE for services to social enterprise.
An ‘exceptional accolade'
Brunel Pension Partnership chief executive Laura Chappell congratulated Faith Ward on her honour – noting it was "an exceptional accolade for someone in responsible investment (RI), given its recent rise to prominence" but adding that "Faith has more than merited it"
Ward worked at the Environment Agency from 1997, and she assumed a focus on RI when she moved to the Environment Agency Pension Fund, which became the first asset owner globally to publish a plan to invest for a temperature rise of under 2°C vs pre-industrial levels, ahead of the Paris Agreement.
In 2018, Faith joined Brunel as chief RI officer – at a time when there were only a handful of such positions across the UK. During her time at Brunel, she has overseen the launch of the fund's RI, climate change, stewardship, and voting policies; as well as its pledges on climate and net zero; the creation of its RI strategy; two climate stocktakes; and the launch of new Paris-aligned passive indices; and the detailed, complex work of integrating RI right along the investment chain.
Since 2020, Ward has been chair of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). During that time, among a range of initiatives, the IIGCC has launched the Paris Aligned Asset Owners Commitment and the Net Zero Investment Framework – the first comprehensive investor framework for achieving net-zero carbon emissions. The IIGCC today has 400 members across 27 countries, representing more than €65trn (£55trn) in assets.
Ward co-founded the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), which provides free-to-use information harnessed by investors globally (>$80trn (£59trn) of assets) to assess companies' readiness for the transition to a low-carbon economy; she remains a non-executive director.
Church of England Pensions Board chief RI officer Adam Matthews noted: "Over the past two decades Faith has been one of the most important influences within the UK and international investment community driving responsible investment practices and investment action on climate change."
He added: "She has however, never taken the easy route to doing this and instead methodically examined all aspects of the financial system that relate to pension funds and sought to engage them in challenging investment norms that fail to account for key systemic risks. From actuaries and accountants to pension advisers and the regulators Faith has relentlessly sought to develop common understanding, define best practices and establish new approaches."
Matthews concluded: "As a result of her efforts significant capital has been allocated into supporting the climate transition, pension fund trustees have made better decisions and, most importantly, real-world impacts have ensued both for those receiving their pensions and for the world into which they will retire."
