Finance
U.K.’s Largest Private Pension Fund to Exit Coal, Tobacco Firms
- Universities Superannuation Scheme oversees about $84 billion
- Pension funds face growing pressure on sustainable investment
Photographer: Jason Alden/Bloomberg
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The U.K.’s largest private pension manager plans to stop investing in companies involved with tobacco, thermal coal and controversial weapons.
The Universities Superannuation Scheme, which oversees more than 68 billion pounds ($84 billion) of assets, will begin selling its holdings in these industries within two years and will exclude any further investment, according to a statement on Monday from USS’s main investment manager and adviser. In addition to tobacco production and thermal coal mining, the move covers companies that make cluster munitions, white phosphorus and land mines.