NY fund blacklists Gazprom and Petrobras
Thursday, 2 July 2009 10:50am
The New York State Common Retirement Fund has pulled out $100 million of the fund's investments in nine companies including Gazprom, Oil & Natural Gas Corp and Petrobras on the back of a genocide report.
The New York State comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, said the decision to drop investments in those companies came after working with the Conflict Risk Network, a Genocide Intervention Network project, for two years.
The Conflict Risk Network compiles financial data and research on companies that are materially involved in specific countries and then uses that information to improve how a company operates in those areas.
The fund's investments in Inpex, Lukoil, OMV, Statoil, Wartsila OYJ and Sinopec Corp were also withdrawn.
"These companies failed to meet even the minimum requirements of the risk mitigation programs we initiated two years ago. I have directed our external equity managers to liquidate our positions in these nine companies," said DiNapoli.
"Those managers will reallocate these assets to responsible investments that are economically indistinguishable."
The New York State Common Retirement Fund has $100 billion in funds under management.
The fund is monitoring and prohibiting any other investments in seven other companies that operate in both countries including Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Total SA, Alstom and Snam Rete Gas.
Melany Grout, director of Conflict Risk Network, said companies are taking notice of this action.
"Direct engagement efforts of this kind have already resulted in 13 companies changing their operations to mitigate conflict and atrocities in Sudan," said Grout.
The Conflict Risk Network's founding members include Boston Common Asset Management, Wheaton College, Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado and Bridgeway Capital Management.
Michael Hobbs
