NAPF: Major pension funds increase class action participation
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Thursday, 18, Sep 2008 12:00
The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) Engagement Survey 20081 of funds with over £1 billion in assets, has found that growing numbers are becoming involved in class actions. The number who had never taken part in a class action has nearly halved from 28% in 2007 to 15% in 2008 with whilst those who had been a lead plaintiff/active participant had doubled from 10% to 23%.
Table 1: Pension fund involvement class action settlements
| | 20072008 |
| Lead plaintiff/Active participant | 10% | 23% |
| To collect on a settlement | 69% | 73% |
| Never taken part | 28% | 15% |
The NAPF has encouraged funds to track class actions and in 2007 published a guide for trustees, target="_blank">Securities Litigation - Questions for Trustees2.
David Paterson, NAPF Head of Corporate Governance said:
“The rise in the participation of pension funds in class actions shows that they have become more effective in monitoring their entitlement to settlements and in holding their agents to account.
“In the current economic climate we expect the trend of increasing shareholder litigation to continue.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. The NAPF’s 2008 Shareholder Engagement Survey is available on the NAPF website
2. The NAPF’s guide for trustees target="_blank">Securities Litigation - Questions for Trustees is available here.
3. The NAPF surveyed pension funds with more than £1 billion under management and received responses from 53 pension funds with combined asset holdings exceeding £300 billion.
4. The Institutional Shareholders’ Committee Statement of Principles on the responsibilities of institutional investors and their agents was first published in 2002 and was refreshed in 2005. Its framework for voting disclosure was published in summer 2007.
About The National Association of Pension Funds Limited
The NAPF is the leading voice of workplace pension provision in the UK. Some 10 million working people are currently in NAPF Member schemes, while around 5 million pensioners are receiving valuable retirement income from such schemes. NAPF Member schemes hold assets of around £800bn, and account for approximately one fifth of investment in the UK stock market.
Journalists requiring further information, please contact Ruth Wharram
020 7808 1345 ruth.wharram@napf.co.uk 07825 171 446
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