Delegates at the general assembly of Swiss municipal pension fund Caisse intercommunale de pensions (CIP) have voted in favour of excluding securities linked to Israel from the fund’s investment portfolio.
According to a source familiar with the matter, around 56% of delegates at the June assembly supported the measure.
The vote followed a proposal submitted by the municipality of Vevey, which called on CIP’s board to divest from assets linked to violations of international law in Palestine and to strengthen the fund’s human rights and international law criteria within its investment policy.
In its proposal, Vevey argued that other institutional investors, including the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund and Dutch pension fund ABP, had already taken exclusion-related decisions involving companies linked to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
The municipality also pointed to developments in Switzerland, including the decision by Geneva’s public pension fund CPEG to divest Israeli sovereign debt and a resolution adopted by delegates of Vaud’s cantonal pension fund CPEV calling for divestment from assets linked to violations of international law in Palestine.
According to the source, CIP’s decision to put the matter to a vote followed internal discussions over whether exclusions should be based on the policies of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the responsible investment association SVVK-ASIR.
SVVK-ASIR managing director Tamara Hardegger told IPE that the association excludes countries subject to sanctions enforced by SECO and that “in the case of Israel there are no sanctions”.
CIP’s asset manager Retraites Populaires declined to comment, saying the pension fund was waiting to finalise the composition of its board of directors and appoint a chair.
According to a reply to a parliamentary inquiry by the Council of State of the canton of Vaud, investments linked to Israel represent 0.07% of CIP’s CHF4.8bn (€5.1bn) in assets under management.
Conflict-driven review of exclusions
CIP has been reviewing its investment policy amid what it described as a proliferation of conflicts.
According to an account of the general assembly published by the pension fund, the board conducted in-depth analyses last year, supported by internal and external specialists, to determine the criteria that should apply to investments.
In March, the board announced plans to reinforce exclusions through an investment policy aligned with SECO sanctions.
Under the framework, exclusions apply to states subject to a SECO arms embargo or to an embargo imposed because of repression linked to violations of international law, particularly human rights.
The fund said the policy would also lead to the divestment of Venezuelan sovereign bonds representing 0.0156% of assets.
