North East Scotland Pension Fund has over 69,000 members, including employees of Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Moray Council and around 50 other public and charitable bodies in the area. These include Scottish Water, Visit Scotland, Moray College and Robert Gordon University.
North East Scotland Pension Fund is valued at over £4.4 billion.[1] A list of investments taken from the fund’s website shows that the fund held shares with a market value of over £6 million (0.1% of the fund) in two company that are involved in nuclear weapons work as at 30 September 2020:[2]
| Company | Value of shares (£) |
| Rolls Royce | 573,280 |
| Serco | 5,724,000 |
| Total | 6,297,280 |
Policy
North East Scotland Pension Fund rejects divestment as an option and “seeks to adopt a policy of risk monitoring and engagement (versus screening) in order to positively influence company behaviour and enhance shareholder value”.[3] This policy means that fund managers are not precluded from investing in harmful industries and the fund currently holds shares in tobacco and fossil fuel companies, as well as Rolls Royce and Serco.
See section 3A.1 for more on the limitations of “engagement”.
Action
If you live in any of the three council areas covered by North East Pension Fund (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray) please contact your councillors about the fund’s investments in nuclear weapons and encourage them to support a divestment resolution: https://nukedivestmentscotland.org/local-authority-divestment-resolutions/
You can also join local activists who are already working on divesting North East Pension Fund from harmful industries. If you would like to get involved, email Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland at nukedivestmentscotland@gmail.com and we will put you in touch with them.
NOTES
[1] https://www.nespf.org.uk/media/ja3bbshq/2019-20_nespf_annual_report_and_accounts_audited.pdf.
[2] https://www.nespf.org.uk/media/uydptohg/holdings-sep-2020.csv.
[3] https://www.nespf.org.uk/media/3lppgmg2/corporate-governance-statement.pdf.
Don't Bank on the Bomb Scotland 