Dutch civil service scheme ABP has sold all its equity stakes in the 158 companies identified by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council as contributing to illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It has also divested from Caterpillar, a supplier of armoured bulldozers to Israel’s army.
The changes in the investment portfolio became public today (Wednesday, 1 October), when the pension fund published the quarterly update of its investment portfolio on its website.
This showed the fund, the largest in the Netherlands with €520bn in assets under management, had sold its €368m stake in Caterpillar in the second quarter of 2025.
With the sale, the fund followed the example of the other four largest pension funds in the country. PFZW, PME, PMT and Bpf Bouw all sold their stakes in Caterpillar over the past year. Caterpillar was identified by the UN in 2024 as one of the suppliers of the Israeli army (IDF), making it responsible for human rights violations by the IDF.
UN Human Rights Council
An ABP spokesperson declined to comment on the reasons for the Caterpillar divestment. However, Caterpillar was not the only company sold by the pension fund.
On 26 September, the UN Human Rights Council published a list of 158 additional companies that supply goods or services to illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
According to ABP’s updated portfolio of listed stocks, the pension fund no longer invests in any of these companies.
In the second quarter of 2025, it sold a €65m stake in Booking.com, which lists hotels and properties in illegal Israeli settlements on its website.
It also sold its €48m holding in the German construction company Heidelberg Cement and its €22m stake in Altice, a telecoms firm that is also on the UN list.
An ABP spokesperson declined to confirm the exact reason why the companies in question were sold, but noted that human rights have a more prominent place in the fund’s investment strategy since a 2024 revamp.
“It’s clear that our investment portfolio changes, also in relation to Israel-Gaza,” the spokesperson said.
ABP still holds corporate bonds for Booking, Caterpillar and Altice as the fund’s new investment policy has not yet been implemented for its corporate bond portfolio, according to the spokesperson.
The latest digital edition of IPE’s magazine is now available
No comments yet