Cigarettes are seen in this May 24, 2017 illustration photo. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) – British pensions provider Scottish Widows will no longer invest in tobacco stocks and will cut back further on coal investments as it expands its responsible investment strategy, it said on Monday.
Scottish Widows, part of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L), said this added a further 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) to its exclusions, bringing total divestments from firms deemed to pose a threat to the pension provider’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to 3 billion pounds.
The firm said it would not invest in any company deriving more than 10% of its revenue from tobacco, which it said meant excluding all tobacco manufacturers and major distributors.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
“Industries such as tobacco are at severe risk of becoming stranded assets, as they face intense pressure from investors, regulators and consumers, and consistently fail to properly address the social impacts of their products and within their …….