Climate Equity Mandate for UK Master Trust

Context and challenges

>£20bn

Climate-focused mandate

>7m

Members

20%

of the UK workforce
impacted by our mandate*

In 2025, one of the largest master trusts in the United Kingdom appointed Amundi to manage a climate-focused developed markets equity index mandate.

Retirement business case - UK Master trust

The portfolio is structured across five regional sleeves covering major developed markets.

Setting the scene

As a fast-growing asset owner, this UK Master Trust aims to:

develop its investment model to strengthen control, transparency, and flexibility
ensure that its investment arrangements remain aligned with its responsible investment and stewardship priorities

The search for a new partner took place against a backdrop of heightened debate around ESG investing and growing divergence between U.S. and European asset managers on sustainability issues.

Following a review of its responsible investment policy and manager structure, the client launched an extensive selection process. The prospective long-term partner needed to:

be able to combine climate alignment, strong stewardship, and robust portfolio construction
have the operational capacity to deploy assets at scale

Objective 1

Align the passive equity portfolio with responsible investment and net zero ambitions.

Objective 2

Secure a long-term strategic partner with strong stewardship and portfolio construction capabilities.

Objective 3

Deliver scalable, climate-focused index management with robust risk oversight.

Image

Kuldip Takhar

Head of UK Institutional Business, Amundi

The client’s decision to prioritise sustainability and to be actively involved in stewardship in order to create long-term value is at the heart of what we believe in at Amundi.

Kuldip Takhar, Head of UK Institutional Business, Amundi

Our approach and solution

We provided a bespoke passive developed markets equity solution built around five regional climate-focused index portfolios. It aims to align as closely as possible with this client’s responsible investment policy.

The mandate was structured to embed climate and stewardship priorities, allowing the scheme to pursue its sustainability goals while maintaining diversification, efficiency and scale.

Supporting these priorities are:

a broader offering, including investment services and solutions, technology, education, communications and operational support
access to our responsible investment capabilities, asset allocation and bespoke investment research

Our passive index equity team led the implementation of the mandate, bolstered by our experience in managing bespoke climate-aware and net-zero index solutions for pension investors.

The bottom-line

Climate-Focused Collaboration

This collaboration represents a landmark climate-focused initiative.

It reinforces this major UK master trust’s responsible investment framework, supports better long-term outcomes for members, and highlights our ability to deliver bespoke retirement solutions at scale.