Pension fund seeks environment oversight

LONDON (Reuters) - The East Sussex County Council's pension fund is seeking to hire a fund manager to engage with companies in its portfolios on climate change and other issues and vote shares worth about 1 billion pounds.

The tender published on the EU's Tenders Electronic Daily system calls for a firm to provide an overlay service "with particular emphasis on environmental impact."

The mandate comes as environmental, social and governance matters become more prominent among large asset owners such a pension funds, who hope that by tackling the issues they will generate better and more sustainable returns in the long term.

The move also comes ahead of the much-anticipated conference in Copenhagen in December where global leaders will seek to agree a new pact for combating climate change in talks that could have a huge impact on companies worldwide.

In the year to March, the East Sussex fund saw its net assets shrink by 17.6 percent to a total of 1.4 billion pounds. The mandate relates to the UK and overseas equities portion of its assets.

The scheme will likely name a successful candidate in the second quarter next year, said John Hastings, a partner at consultant Hymans Robertson which will vet candidates.

The tender was issued earlier this week.

(Reporting by Cecilia Valente; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

(cecilia.valente@thomsonreuters.com; +44 (0)20 75423570; Reuters Messaging: cecilia.valente.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))