Age of activism

UniSuper's recent, very public opposition to the Westfield restructure illustrated at least one thing: super funds have clout. Gone are the days when trustees delegated all investment decisions - including shareholder voting rights - to an assortment of external fund managers. Now, some of the big funds have their own in-house managers who have the expertise to make complicated judgments. And as the episode with Westfield showed, they are not afraid to use this expertise. But what does this mean for businesses? Will super funds become increasingly active in the governance and decision-making of the companies they own? Will they use their clout to force companies to do things they wouldn't otherwise have done? Will they even use their financial muscle to force environmental and social change, divesting from fossil fuels, tobacco and weapons manufacturers? Or is this all hyperbole? FS Super associate editor James Fernyhough sat down with UniSuper chief investment officer John Pearce to