Three quarters of the UK’s top fund managers are failing to disclose their policies on environmental and social issues, despite the fact that many of these companies actually have corporate social responsibility programmes in place.

A survey carried out by FairPensions has found that of the top 20 fund managers, which together manage £7 trillion including the investments of UK charities, 75% did not publicly disclose their CSR policies.

Goldman Sachs and State Street ranked last in the league table, but F&C (majority-owned by Friends Provident) scored highly, demonstrating a transparency and a commitment to engagement on responsible investment.

Alex van der Velden, executive director of FairPensions, said: “Investors need to know how fund managers are responding to the financial risks associated with such important issues as climate change and human rights. Environmental and social issues can lead to heavy losses which are then passed on to investors.”

He said many of the fund managers assessed in the survey were failing to meet the best practice codes set out by their own industry. “The survey shows that there has been little voluntary voting disclosure, which strengthens the arguments for the UK government to exercise its reserve power under the Companies Act to make voting disclosure mandatory,” he added.

The survey was undertaken to find out whether fund managers’ activity on environmental, social and governance issues actually met their public commitment. “Our findings demonstrate a clear gap between rhetoric and reality. The survey demonstrates that although many organisations are getting to grips with corporate social responsibility, fund managers are still behind the times in this critical area,” van der Velden said.