Norwegian fund KLP bans investments in alcohol and gambling
Norway’s largest pension fund has pledged to ban investments in alcohol and gambling stocks today as it ramps up efforts to divest from 'vice' stocks.
KLP, which controls roughly $80bn (£63bn) in assets under management, is severing its ties with casino groups, brewers and cigarette companies in its latest sustainability drive.
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Some 90 companies are set to be hit by the move, including spirits and beer giants such as Diageo, Carlsberg and Heineken.
The move underlines a number of recent high-profile efforts from investment management groups to exclude ‘sin stocks’, which refer to companies that deal in tobacco, alcohol or other products deemed harmful, from their portfolio.
In March BNP Parisab Asset Management said it is set to halt investment in companies that earn above 10 per cent of revenue from thermal coal.
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KLP has also cut its bond and equity exposure in almost 50 coal and mining companies during recent months.
Today the Norwegian group, which said it had talked to both customers and owners before making the move, reiterated its view that it did not want to make money from goods potentially harmful to people with addictions.