It is that time of the year when we look back over the Forum’s activities over the previous twelve months. LAPFF's Annual Report is now available.

With the publication last year of the Stewardship Code we have hopefully entered an era when shareholder engagement is now truly mainstream.

The background to our work has rarely been as favourable, and a number of the Forum’s members have signalled their support by producing statements about how they apply the Code.

This year the Forum initiated intensive one-on-one engagements with 67 companies on key Forum issues including Climate Change, Corporate Governance, Employment Standards, Human Rights and Audit Practices.  Our influence reached hundreds more with our collaborative engagement activities, undertaken through the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, the Investor Network on Climate Risk, the Carbon Disclosure Project and the Forest Footprint Disclosure Network.

The Forum strives to take a leadership role in key corporate governance and sustainability issues affecting companies owned by local authority pension funds.  Highlights this year include News Corp and BSkyB, although the Forum continues to take a leadership role in previous years’ campaigns, including BP, Marks & Spencer and Vedanta.

As part of the Forum’s public policy work, the issue of accounting standards has rapidly become a core element. Work that the Forum has undertaken is seeking to understand the failures during the financial crisis.  In particular, we have highlighted the role that IFRS played in giving a misleading picture of the financial position of banks. This is likely to be a focus of further work in the New Year, and will include engagement with policymakers and regulators.

Finally, of course, we have continued to grow in size in 2011. With our 54th member, Cheshire Pension Fund, joining earlier this year, the Forum has the weight of assets behind it to make its voice heard. We have taken the initiative to increase member involvement in Forum activities. Cameron Rose (Lothian Pension Fund) and Toby Simons (Enfield) participated in company engagement meetings with Greggs and Legal & General alongside the Forum chair and PIRC, our research and engagement partner. 

We look forward to 2012 stronger than ever, and with some exciting challenges ahead.

To access the report, please click here.