Norway Pension Fund Dumps Tobacco Holdings

January 20, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – A recommendation from the Council on Ethics at the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) in Norway has led to a Minister of Finance decision to divest from 17 tobacco-producing companies, the Norway Post reported.

The newspaper account said the divestment in shares of the affected companies has already been carried out. 

In formulating investment criteria on the matter, the Finance Minister tried to match the policy on tobacco investments with existing rules screening out certain weapons manufacturers, according to The Post. The result is a rule that in principle will exclude all production of tobacco, regardless of the percentage of business represented by tobacco production.

The new screening criterion for tobacco production is limited to tobacco products and does not include associated products such as filters and flavor additives.

“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,” Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen told the newspaper.

Fred Schneyer
editors@plansponsor.com