Ethical pension investors are finding out that their employer funds have large amounts of cash staked in tobacco and weapons companies.
Billions of pounds have poured into companies that many investors find unpalatable.
Millions of workers for public agencies and local authorities with targets to reduce smoking and improve the environment have discovered they have more than £14 billion invested in firms making cigarettes or exploiting polluting fossil fuels.
Some pension funds have cash in companies like British Aerospace, which manufactures weapons.
Now, many employees are demanding more of a say in the way their money is invested by their employers – and also calling for them to offer retirement planning advice.
Workers what to know more about pensions
Research by investment fund managers Baring Asset Management revealed 14% of workers believe their bosses should let them know the precise asset allocation of their retirement funds.
However, 56% felt the responsibility lay with them, while 22% thought their pension provider should tell them more about their investments as well.
The survey also looked at who employers relied on for giving them retirement advice.
Around 13% or 4.8 million people suggest their employers should provide this service – up from 9% last year and 7% in the year before.
IFAs remained the most popular source of retirement advice (27%), while 20% would go to a bank or building society even though their advice is not independent.
Friends and families give financial advice
Around 20% of workers do not bother with any professional advice and manage their own finances.
An increasing number of workers talk over money matters with their friends and families.
In 2012, only one in eight would do so, but now the number is almost one in four. Younger earners are more likely to seek financial advice from their families (40%) than older workers approaching retirement (9%).
Baring’s Rod Aldridge said: “The trend of workers relying on their companies for financial advice seems to be emerging. This shows how important work is to many of us and how much trust we have in our employers
“Discussing money is important as we all need to make decisions about spending and saving throughout our lives.”
