Big investors call on UK Plc to improve mental health
08/07/2022 12:03
LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - Investors representing $7
trillion in assets have written to the CEOs of 100 of the UK's
largest listed companies to ask them to make more effort to
support workplace mental health, they said on Friday.
The group of 29 asset owners, institutional investors and
stewardship service providers is led by charity investment firm
CCLA and includes Federated Hermes FHI.N and Nomura Asset
Management 9716.T .
The investors asked company chief executives to set
objectives and targets to improve workplace mental health and
report annually on their progress.
"Creating a workplace that does no harm to the mental or
physical health of workers is not only a moral necessity but
also a financial imperative," said Amy Browne, stewardship lead
at CCLA.
The investor group cited a report from consultants Deloitte
estimating the total annual cost of poor mental health to the UK
private sector was 43 billion-46 billion pounds ($51.55
billion-55.15 billion) in 2020–21, up 25% from pre-pandemic
estimates in 2019.
However, returns on investment from workplace mental health
interventions were 5.30 pounds for every pound invested in
2020-2021, the report said.
($1 = 0.8341 pounds)
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Jan Harvey)
((carolyn.cohn@thomsonreuters.com; 44 207 513 4391;))