Greater Manchester’s historic move on tobacco divestment

In September Greater Manchester Pension Fund considered a report recommending divestment from tobacco available here

The GMPF has already divested all of its directly held tobacco stocks becoming, as far as I am aware the first such fund to do so. Those funds that have taken similar decisions previously held tobacco only through pooled funds, so were not divesting as such, merely affirming a position that they did not wish fund managers to directly hold tobacco stocks.

As the largest individual LGPS fund, this move marks an historic first for the LGPS. The Treasurer to the Fund states:
“The tobacco sector is relatively small as a proportion of World equity markets and the Fund’s investment managers’ views are that such exclusion
is unlikely to have a material adverse impact on returns. If the Panel, in
the future, decided to increase the number of sectors excluded, this would have a more material impact on returns and volatility.”

The report is well worth reading, although it would have been strengthened by including consideration of the public policy position on tobacco and the FCTC.