DENMARK - Danica Pension, the pensions arm of Denmark's Danske Bank, has banned three major stocks from its potential investment universe because of ethical concerns about their business activities.
Daewoo International Corporation, Hyundai Motor Company and Aeroteh S.A. have just been added to Danica's now 16-strong blacklist of ‘sin stocks'.
"Daewoo International Corporation has been excluded because of its breach of international guidelines in connection with its activities in Burma," said the pensions firm in its latest newsletter.
Hyundai Motor Company was excluded because of its involvement in "corruption and bribery", and Aeroteh is not considered a suitable investment option because of the company's involvement in the production of cluster bombs, Danica said.
"These companies are breaching our investment policy - the so-called SRI policy - and so now we will neither invest in the companies nor in the bonds issued by those companies. The list of excluded companies now contains 16 companies," said Danica.
Businesses already on the list include General Dynamics Corporation, L-3 Communications Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation and Nissan Motor Company.
Danica said the aim of its ethical investment policy was to avoid the pension assets of scheme members being placed in businesses which knowingly breached international norms in the fields of human rights, environment, labour, corruption and weapons.
"In our opinion proper conduct is a pre-requisite for the creation of long-term value," the pensions firm said. "Therefore good ethics and good profits are not unrelated."
Danica Pension reported total assets under management of DKK250bn (€33.59bn) at the end of June this year.
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