UUP chair would encourage ethical investment

Chair of the Foyle Unionist Association Terry Wright, however, told the Sentinel he would personally encourage an ethical stance on investments.

He made the comments in response to the recent revelation by the Sentinel that many local council workers, alongside staff at Ilex, WELB, NIHE, Magee, City of Derry Airport, NWRC, Ulsterbus and some local schools are contributing to a Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC) pension fund which have been invested in a diverse portfolio of global shares, amongst them cigarettes, alcohol, gambling and arms firms.

Overall, NILGO have over £40m invested in British American Tobacco - the owner of Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall; and over £10m invested in the Imperial Tobacco Group - owner of Drum, Gitanes, Golden Virginia and Lambert and Butler.

Money has also been poured into bookmakers William Hill (£5.4m) and brewer Carlsberg (£3.9m).

“Whilst I personally would have strong reservations about some of these investments and the possible health and social detrimental effects, in addition to the financial costs to the public purse, which can result from over-indulgence in behaviour associated with them, I have to recognise that NILGOSC probably contains members who would not share my view,” Mr Wright stated.

“It is also the case that at the present time investors will seek the best return for investment in order to protect the pensions of the members.

“We do not live in an ideal world however I would from a personal view encourage an ethical stance on investments and accept that this may be at financial cost.

“I stess that this is a personal view on a complex issue. which is ultimately a matter for the members of the Organisation making the investment on their behalf,” he concluded.

Investment managers Baillie Gifford and Wellington Managment manage NILGOSC’s equity portfolio.

Wellington Management told the Sentinel it has a longstanding policy of not commenting on companies it researches or invests in on behalf of clients.

NILGOSC Chief Executive and Secretary David Murphy recently told the Sentinel it was “legally prevented from excluding any type of company for ethical reasons. This is not unusual as this law applies to all general pension funds.”

Ironically, the contributions have also been invested in US arms firms including Raytheon and nuclear weapon developer Honeywell International.

Raytheon Systems Limited (RSL) left Londonderry in 2010 after a series of high profile protests against their presence in the city but almost half-a-million pounds have been invested in the firm’s parent company, Raytheon on behalf of public sector workers across Northern Ireland, including thousands of workers in the North West