Part 2: KCC Pension Fund is divesting from fossil fuels but still investing in countries who do not uphold LGBT rights

The KCC Pension Fund total investments were valued at £6.6bn on 31 December 2019. Just three months later, on the 31st March 2020, the pension value had shrunk to £5.7 billion, a loss of £900 million in just three months. This is a fall in value of 14%.

The Pension Fund is slowly but surely divesting pension assets from companies who contribute to climate and ecological change of the planet.

Of course, KCC pension fund does continue to invest into oil and gas companies such as Petrobas, Lukoil, Petroleos Mexicanos, but at a much reduced rate.

In 2017 the Pension Fund had £267 million invested in fossil fuel companies. By late 2019 this had risen to £350 million. However by March 31st 2020, it’s clear that the Pension Fund had began to divest from Fossil Fuels as is made clear in the 2019/20 Pension Fund Investment spreadsheet at the end of this blog. The amount had fallen to £210m or 3.7% of the whole portfolio. These are the top 10 investments into oil, coal and gas

1 ROYAL DUTCH SHELL £53,935,000

2 BP £32,312,000

3 BHP £25,641,000

4 GLENCORE £16,579,000

5 ANGLO AMERICAN £16,452,000

6 MITSUBISHI £7,790,000

7 EXXONMOBIL £6,888,000

8 CHEVRON £4,831,000

9 WOODSIDE PETROLEUM £4,563,000

10 MITSUI £4,111,000

Divestment is a practical, legal and responsible way for pension funds to respond to climate change by making an example of the climate change’s worst offenders: fossil fuels companies.

However, the Pension Fund does continue to invest in countries which do not recognise the rights of the LGBT community such as Russia, Turkey and Qatar

It also continues to invest in the second-largest tobacco company in the world, Reynolds American Inc.

It seems somewhat contradictory message from KCC to say it is fine to invest in Tobacco companies when KCC want people to quit.

The Pension Fund last year showed an increasing appetite for investment into property around the UK, such as Wardour Street Soho, Trafford Park Manchester, Dukes Lane Brighton and Walkergate Durham to name a few sites where the fund has invested.

Much of the real estate owned by the Pension Fund will have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Pension Fund continues to invest offshore in Luxembourg and the Cayman Islands. We understand they are obliged to fund the best returns to their pension fund investors, but we do believe they could invest onshore and get just as good a return.

The Pension Fund received £138.9m on 30 January 2020 from the Woodford Fund, it being the first capital distribution to investors. The administrators of the Woodford fund have made clear that further payments will be forthcoming dependent on the sale of the assets of the fund. As of 31st March 2020 the Pension Fund had no investments in the Woodford Fund.

Below are KCCs Pension Fund Investments for 2019/20 and the three years proceeding that.

If you spot anything of interest in the Pension Investments KCC have do let us know by contacting us at shepwayvox [at] riseup[dot]net.

KCC Pension Fund Investments 31st March 2020

Pension Fund Asset Listing as at 31st March 2019

Kent-Pension-Fund-Investments-September-2018

kent-pension-fund-investments-feb-2017

The Shepway Vox Team

Dissent is NOT a Crime