TIAA-CREF, the giant $402bn US pension and investment fund group for US teachers and researchers, has sold its shares in four Asian companies: PetroChina, CNPC Hong Kong, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Sinopec, in protest at their business links to the Sudanese government presiding over genocide in Darfur, according to ResponsibleInvestor.com
The fund group blacklisted the four after they failed to use their influence on the Sudanese government to stop the genocide. Shares worth $60m were sold.
Petronas, a Malaysian oil and gas company with Sudanese interests was also a TIAA-CREF lobby target. Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., TIAA-CREF’s chief executive, said: "We have not divested from Petronas, which has acknowledged our concerns and engaged in dialogue about how it might address them.”
TIAA-CREF’s ultimatum on Sudan-linked companies followed a campaign targeted at the fund itself by non-governmental organizations and pension plan members who accused it of increasing its controversial investment in PetroChina even while lobbying the company to use its influence to challenge the Sudanese government.
TIAA-CREF, a signatory to the U.N.-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) has urged fellow signatories, which represent a combined $2.5 trillion in assets under management, to join its Sudan campaign.