The Situation
House Of Hackney is a London-based luxury interiors business with 50 UK employees. Registered as a B-Corp, the business is on a journey from being simply ‘sustainable’ to actively ‘regenerative’.
The process of selecting a pension scheme for their employees therefore had to consider wider social and economic impacts. The business needed a partner who could support them in this search.
What We Did
As a fellow B-Corp with extensive interest in sustainable finance, Switchfoot Wealth was ideally placed to support House of Hackney with their workplace pension search.
We undertook a market review of all available pension plans, taking into account the business’ key specified requirements. We analysed these options and presented our findings to the company.
Once a decision was made, we supported with execution and throughout the phase of change. This included an employee-wide presentation.
The Outcome
House of Hackney now provide their employees with a scheme that aligns with the business’ core principles. The new scheme includes a default fund that applies exclusions to investments and seeks positive Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) alignment.
The new default has delivered better historical returns than legacy one* (over a period from June 2019 to June 2024.) There are also many alternative funds for members to choose from if they wish, allowing them to align strategies to their own preferences.
Employees also benefit from improved accessibility to information through an intuitive web and mobile app.
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“We couldn’t fault the support and service we received”
“We understand that while banks and financial institutions continue to invest in fossil fuels and other industries that are harmful to our collective wellbeing, we will only be able to progress so far with addressing the climate and nature crises.
“A key part of our regenerative mission was to move the company pension scheme to a fund more aligned with our company values. As custodians acting on behalf of our employees, this was not a decision we took lightly.
“We therefore partnered with Switchfoot, who guided us through the choices, helped us choose the right scheme and then led the implementation process. This included a presentation to the staff to explain the decisions made. We couldn’t fault the support and service we received and we hope to continue the partnership with Switchfoot for future projects.”
Ruth Coleman, Head of Finance
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* Past performance is no guarantee of future performance nor that the new default will compare favourably in the future. Investments can fall and rise.
