Dorset Council reconsiders £5m pension investment in Russian companies
Dorset Council's pension investments have "indirect exposure" to Russian companies
Last updated 10th Mar 2022
Dorset's pension fund has taken a £5million hit from its investments in Russia.
The total comes to about 0.13per cent of the total value of the fund and although the holding still exists is now probably worth no more than the paper it is written on.
Pension board chairman Cllr Andy Canning said the amount was small but the only way the loss might be recovered was by a rapid change in the Russian leadership.
“We are all disgusted by the behaviour of Russia and its unwarranted and illegal war on Ukraine.
“It has a huge impact globally and an estimated two million people are now refugees and that number is only likely to increase.
“It is totally wrong what Putin has done and I am sure we all condemn that,” he said.
Cllr Canning said that as with investments in Russia the fund’s investments in fossil fuel companies was small and had reduced from around £128m to £41m and now represents just 1.2per cent of its total investment assets, according to Friends of the Earth.
In response to a series of questions at a county hall meeting on Thursday he said that further investment strategy changes would be considered in the middle of next year in response to a three-yearly review, shortly to get underway based on the fund’s assets at the end of March.
He promised that its advisors would be told that nothing was on or off the table and further disinvestment in fossil fuel companies would be considered, along with other investment options.
Pension fund member Julie-Anne Booker told the panel that she “felt terrible” that some of her pension money was tied up in companies which were causing climate change and called on the fund to speed up its withdraw from businesses which used fossil fuels and look at “green future” funds instead.
“If action is not taken now there will be no future in the long term,” she told the meeting.
Pension fund vice chairman Cllr Peter Wharf said he was pleased with the fund’s response to climate change.
“We can be very proud of the work we are doing… we are at the forefront of climate change progress in what we are doing in many areas,” he said.
He said in terms of its investment profile in relation to climate change and to Russia the Dorset Fund was in a far better position than most.
The fund, largely made up of Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole members, together with former councils and a number of other Dorset-based public bodies, represents around 75,000 pension fund members.