Peer Intelligence - Fall 2023

By Edsart Heuberger

Transparency and effective communication are incredibly important for pension funds. They play a vital role in building trust, improving strategic focus, and fostering positive relationships with stakeholders. Additionally, they enhance engagement with plan members and employees, ultimately leading to better outcomes for members.

In this series, we will highlight examples of best practices from the latest Global Pension Transparency Benchmark. This benchmark evaluates the public disclosures of the five largest pension organizations in fifteen countries.

Today, we will focus on the Government Pension Fund Global from Norway, which was ranked as the most transparent fund in the world in the 2023 Global Pension Transparency Benchmark. Top1000Funds.com has published an insightful interview with Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of the fund. In the interview, Nicolai explains why transparency is a strategic priority for Norway's sovereign wealth fund. He takes pride in their approach to proxy voting, stating that they are the most transparent fund when it comes to disclosing their voting decisions. Furthermore, they announce their voting stance in advance of 12,000 annual general meetings across 63 countries, a practice that no other company or fund follows.

To demonstrate their commitment to transparency, the Government Pension Fund Global has made it possible for anyone to access their investments on their public website. By doing so, individuals can even find the fund's proxy voting records for specific companies. We showcase this below:

A demonstration of world-class transparency