Pension scheme members want to know more about how their savings are invested, a National Association of Pension Funds survey has revealed.
A poll of over 1,000 UK adults found that a majority (60%) would be interested in their provider undertaking stewardship activities, while 53% said they favoured providers that demonstrated strong stewardship activities.
Stewardship requires a closer relationship between investors and companies, with investors monitoring and engaging with businesses on matters such as strategy, risk, corporate governance and remuneration.
Will Pomroy, policy lead for stewardship at the NAPF, said: 'This research raises an important questions for those at every stage of the investment chain about whether the definition of "value" is too narrowly viewed, and being defined with the input of scheme members.
'Given the clear preference of scheme members for their employers to favour providers with strong stewardship offerings, it is critical they are able to have confidence they are being enrolled into schemes that provide value for money and are equipped to act as good stewards of their pension savings.'
The survey also found that 39% of respondents do not know how their pensions savings are invested. Despite this, a clear majority of respondents said they would like more information about the asset allocation, industries and sectors, countries and specific companies that their savings might be invested in.
More than two thirds (68%) said they would prefer that their employer chose a pension provider that made a special effort to invest in companies with an ethical stance assuming returns were about the same. However, in a scenario in which returns from ethical investment were lower, support for an ethical approach dropped to 48%.