UCU members who are in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) may be interested in the letter received from Professor Tim Valentine, Chair of the USS Step Up Campaign Steering Group:

The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) invests around £50 billion of our money. Some of that money is invested in stocks that fund controversial weapons or climate change – stocks that we don’t want to profit from. Over 3,000 USS members got the scheme to agree to survey members’ interests last year. They have failed to deliver on that agreement.  To be frank, USS executives are being pretty stubborn. They don’t want to take our opinions into account when investing our money. But we can change that. Representatives from our universities and institutions will meet USS executives on 3 December. Let’s get our message through to them. Take 2 minutes to write down why you want USS to step up We need to keep the pressure on USS – especially Chief Investment Officer Roger Gray – to engage with the people whose money they manage: us. It is our savings that are being invested in stocks that fund cluster bombs, climate change, tobacco or other controversial activities. We have a right to have a say in those investments.  Click here to make sure your reasons are heard on 3 December As we ramp up the pressure on USS together, it’s getting harder for them to ignore us.

All the best, Professor Tim Valentine Chair of the USS: Step Up steering group and former Chair of the ‘Ethics for USS’ campaign