Dutch pension fund defends Israel stance
The second-biggest pension fund in the Netherlands has defended its asset management arm’s decision to dump its holdings in five Israeli banks in January.
PFZW, the €137bn pension fund, said it has completed a “review” into the decision made by PGGM to pull out of Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank.
Ellen Habermehl, a spokesperson for PFZW, said in a statement emailed to FTfm: “The commotion caused by our decision has led us to carefully evaluate our decision-making process on this matter. We have concluded that there is no reason to reconsider this decision.”
Ms Habermehl added that the pension fund has close to €100m invested in 100 Israeli companies, and “plans to continue to invest in Israel as long as it is in line with our policy of responsible investment”.
PGGM’s decision, which was based on concerns that the banks finance illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, prompted ABP, the largest Dutch pension fund, to issue a public statement saying that it would remain invested in three of the banks.
ABP, the world’s third-largest pension fund with €300bn of assets, concluded that the banks “do not act in breach of international laws and regulations, and that there are no judicial rulings that should lead to their exclusion”.
Ms Habermehl confirmed that PFZW’s management team met executives from Israeli and Palestinian companies as well as non-government organisations and government officials in April 2013 before deciding to divest from the five banks.
She said: “Yes, we did talk to [several pro-Palestine lobby groups], but we did much more during the five years of engagement on this issue.”