(January 22, 2010) – In an effort to remain a role model for socially responsible investment, Norway has blocked 17 tobacco companies from its sovereign wealth fund, Europe’s biggest equity investor.
Since introducing ethical guidelines in 2003, Norway
has aimed to make its sovereign wealth fund an archetype for socially
responsible investing. “It is important that the ethical guidelines
reflect at all times what can be considered to be commonly held values
of the owners of the fund,” said Sigbjorn Johnsen, the Financial Times reported.
The $456 billion fund blacklisted Philip Morris, British American
Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, Altria, Reynolds American and Japan Tobacco,
among other tobacco companies, after the Norwegian finance ministry
ruled that the firms violated the fund’s ethical guidelines.
Additional companies on the fund’s blacklist, which now total about
67 stocks, include Honeywell and Northrop Grumman for their involvement
with making nuclear weapons, as well as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon
for production of cluster munitions, according to the FT.
Norway’s Government Pension Fund, which holds 1% of the world’s
equities, is the world’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund following
that of the United Arab Emirates. The fund is currently in the midst of
debates and evaluation on its approach to active management.
To contact the <em>aiCIO</em> editor of this story: Paula Vasan at <a href='mailto:pvasan@assetinternational.com'>pvasan@assetinternational.com</a>; 646-308-2742