04/10/2007

• New report names Stagecoach scheme as one of top three in the country
• Gold ranking for fund's environmental, social and governance approach

Stagecoach Group has one of the UK's leading corporate pension funds for responsible investment, according to a major new report.

The UK Social Investment Forum (UKSIF), the membership body for responsible investment, ranked the Stagecoach Group Pension Scheme as one of the top three in the country.

The finding are contained in the UKSIF report Responsible Business: Sustainable Pension - How the Pension Funds of the UK's Corporate Responsibility Leaders are approaching responsible investment.

It reviewed the pension funds of UK companies listed in the FTSE4Good UK Index and in the Carbon Disclosure Project's Climate Disclosure Leadership Index, ranking them in five categories according to their responsible investment implementation and communication.

The report was produced as part of the UKSIF Sustainable Pensions Project, which encourages pension schemes to consider environmental and social issues in their fund investment decisions. Funds surveyed included pensions schemes managed.

The Stagecoach Group Pension scheme - a defined benefits scheme with more than 21,000 members and assets under management worth more than £580million – was given a gold ranking, the second-highest level of award. The report said it was one of three schemes that had demonstrated "particularly strong leadership".

Derek Scott, Chairman of Trustees, Stagecoach Group Pension Scheme, said: "Responsible investment is not just common sense for pensions trustees, it is both good business sense and essential to the proper discharge of fiduciary responsibilities."

The Friends Provident Pension Scheme also received a gold ranking, while the British Telecom Pension Scheme received the highest platinum grading.

Michael Deakin, Chair of UKSIF's Sustainable Pensions Advisory Board, said "For the first time, we have data on the existence and application of responsible investment policies in the pension funds of the UK corporate sector.

"Pension fund trustees are facing many challenges but I hope that, by highlighting how the best in class are performing, other funds will look to make progress in this regard."

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Steve Stewart, Director of Corporate Communications
Stagecoach Group
Tel: 01738 442111 or mobile 07764 774680
email: steven.stewart@stagecoachgroup.com

Notes to Editors

Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The company employs around 27,000 people, and operates bus, coach, rail, and tram services. For further details, see www.stagecoachgroup.com.

Responsible Business: Sustainable Pension – How the Pension Funds of the UK's Corporate Responsibility Leaders are approaching responsible investment.

The report is based on questionnaire responses from the pension funds of companies in the FTSE4Good UK Index and the Carbon Disclosure Project's Climate Disclosure Leadership Index at June 2006. Out of the 278 pension funds which were sent the questionnaire, 34 pension funds (12%) responded with a completed questionnaire, of which 33 were usable. A further 146 pension fund contacts (53%) stated that they did not wish to participate. The analysis in the report is based upon these 33 responses. The full report is available at www.uksif.org.

The UKSIF Sustainable Pensions Project
The UK Social Investment Forum (UKSIF) is the UK's membership network for sustainable and responsible financial services. It promotes responsible investment and other forms of finance that support sustainable economic development, enhance quality of life and safeguard the environment. For further details, see www.uksif.org.