DID YOU KNOW?
On 8 September 2026, 12 governments said they would impose restrictions on trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The United Kingdom will also sanction companies that fund or build new settlements which strengthens our action. Add your voice.
Watching what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank is incredibly frustrating as well as heartbreaking. It’s hard to know what to do, how to help. This is what Bystanders No More is all about. We are here to give you the tools you need to take action that can contribute to real change.
There is something you can do, and it is more powerful than it looks: ask questions.
Governments are moving against illegal Israeli settlements. Your pension may be invested in companies involved in them. As a member of a pension scheme, you have a right to ask the people who invest your money how they are managing risk. We have drafted a short letter to help you do exactly that.
Three things you should know before you send anything.
Writing to your scheme to ask how your money is managed is a normal member enquiry. You do not have to give your reasons. You are not asking your fund to sell anything. You are merely asking whether the board is assessing a legal risk that courts and governments now take seriously. Assessing that risk is the board’s job, and asking about it is your right.
You do not need to be an expert. The letter below does the technical work. You add your name and your scheme details, and you send it.
Your letter does not travel alone. A board can set aside one member’s enquiry. It cannot as easily set aside a pattern of them. When you send yours, please record it so the collective weight of these requests can be seen.
How to send it
NOTE: If your main pension is with an institution that does not invest your contributions, such as the NHS, Teachers’ or a civil service scheme, use the letter for any other workplace or personal pensions you might have.
- Find the right person. If your scheme has trustees, as most company and university schemes do, write to the Chair of Trustees. For the Local Government Pension Scheme, write to the Chair of your fund’s Pensions Committee. If your workplace pension is run by an insurance or investment company, write to the Independent Governance Committee. Names are usually on the scheme’s website under “governance” or “about us”.
- Optional: look up your fund’s investment policy. Schemes with trustees publish a Statement of Investment Principles, and local government funds publish an Investment Strategy Statement. You do not need to read it to send the letter, and you should not let it hold you up. It is useful only if you want to quote the fund’s own words back to it.
- Add your details and send. Download the letter below, add your name, contact details and membership number (usually on your annual statement) and send it by email or post.
- Record your action. Share the action you took, the date and your country of residence. This will encourage others to take action and the growing pattern of inquiries will send a very public signal to financial institutions that their members want answers.
Act now
Step 1: Download the letter
You can print off a poster or leaflet to put up in your workplace to encourage others to take part. Additional actions like this really help to amplify the campaign.
Step 2: Record your action
View others’ actions below
If they write back
Two replies are common. Both have a short, specific answer.
If they say: we practise active stewardship and engagement, and use our vote to press for change. Ask what that engagement is specifically seeking to change on this issue, over what timeframe, and what evidence there is that it is working. Engagement is a legitimate strategy only if it has defined objectives and a point at which the board would conclude it has failed. Ask to see those.
If they say: we cannot pursue political boycotts, and government guidance constrains us. Make clear that you are not asking for a boycott. You are asking whether the board is assessing a material legal risk, which is squarely its fiduciary duty. The court’s ruling applies to governments, but the legal and financial risks that follow land on funds regardless of any political position, and the funds named in the letter treated this as risk management rather than politics.
A note on tone. Keep it calm and factual. The strength of this letter is that it asks a governance question the board is obliged to be able to answer, so you do not need to argue the politics. If a reply is evasive, a short follow-up that simply repeats the unanswered question is more effective than a longer one.