The People's Trust, a new independent investment trust set up by former Investment Association chief Daniel Godfrey with an eco-friendly agenda, is set to float next year on the London Stock Exchange.
The trust is calling for the dismantling of the bonus culture and for collective shareholder action to tackle corporate carbon footprints.
It is funded by a £100,000 crowdsourcing campaign backed by 2,000 investors who have joined as founders.
Publishing its stewardship approach today (28 November), the trust's key objective is to deliver returns to investors over seven-year timeframes and to have a positive impact on company culture, society and the environment.
It also plans to provide as a free shareholder service savings plans to encourage more people to save.
The trust's management aims to tackle climate change by making formal requests to firms to adopt low-carbon business plans, as well as supporting resolutions that carbon-heavy companies slash greenhouse gas emissions.
It will also lobby against excessive executive pay by supporting boards that pay executive directors partly in shares, with the holdings to be held for at least seven years.
“The People’s Trust believes that to fight for long-termism, diversity and the environment as well as a fairer share of the rewards of growth throughout the population will lead to better long-term returns for our shareholders and a better impact on society," said Daniel Godfrey, co-founder of the People's Trust.
“The bonus culture needs to be dismantled. We should be setting the right salaries for the job and people should be paid for doing that job. Paying senior executives a significant part of a well-calibrated salary in long-term shares will provide the incentive and opportunity for them to ‘get rich slowly,’ which would be good, for them and for all stakeholders.”
