The UK’s largest pension scheme is stepping up its efforts to hold private equity managers to account on responsible investment, as environmental and social worries rise up the agenda for big investors.

The £64bn Universities Superannuation Scheme, which manages pensions for 420,000 academics, has begun a programme of regular meetings with the companies running its £4.3bn portfolio of private equity funds, such as TPG and CVC. During these, USS’s staff quiz the fund managers on environmental, social and governance topics.