The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (“the Fund”) has published reports on its proxy voting and engagement activities in 2023. Together, these efforts comprise the Fund’s stewardship work, which is a pillar of our responsible investment strategy.

“Responsible investment reflects our belief in the alignment between the values of the UN and the long-term financial sustainability we pursue for our participants and beneficiaries,” said Toru Shindo, Chief Investment Officer at the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF).

Through proxy voting and engagement, the Fund is able to advocate with the organisations overseeing the assets in which it invests. This is geared toward mitigating risks and pursuing opportunities tied to a holistic set of long-term value drivers, including the ongoing transition to a low-emissions global economy.

The Fund committed to annual publication of its stewardship activities in 2023, when it first issued these reports.

In 2023, through its service providers, the Fund voted at 1,432 company meetings and engaged with 569 companies across 2,730 issues and objectives.

The Fund’s proxy voting guidelines reflect our beliefs in what drives sustainable, long-term growth. These include:

• Corporate boards should be comprised of mostly independent directors and be diverse with an appropriate balance of skills, expertise and tenure
• Executive pay packages should maintain appropriate pay-for-performance alignment
• Disclosure reports should address shareholders’ social, workforce and environmental concerns

As for engagement, the Fund engages with companies across 12 themes. The most common themes in 2023 were climate change, human capital, board effectiveness and executive remuneration. Engagement occurred across all continents, with the majority in North America.

Milestones are used to chart engagement progress relative to a set of long-term objectives. In 2023, over 50% of objectives achieved milestones.

The reports provide a detailed view of our stewardship activities and how we use our voice as a shareholder to steer company behaviour in support of both the Fund’s financial sustainability and the health and wellbeing of our people and planet as encapsulated by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“We are pleased to provide transparency to our stakeholders by showing how the Fund is putting its responsible investment strategy into action,” Mr. Shindo added.

In addition to Stewardship, UNJSPF’s responsible investment strategy includes exclusions, climate opportunities, impact investing, and ESG integration. The 2023 Engagement and Proxy Voting Reports can be found below.