The decision by the family doctors’ pension fund to invest in tobacco is up to the external asset manager, the fund said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier this week it emerged the fund had bought more shares in British American Tobacco, despite an outcry earlier this year.
‘SPH invests in tobacco and has recently bought tobacco shares,’ the fund said on its website. ‘That is possible because the SPH has not ruled out tobacco.’
The fund has put management of its share portfolio out to external asset managers who ‘have the freedom to decide whether or not to invest in tobacco’. The fund also continues to invest in alcoholic drinks firms and food groups, the statement pointed out.
The fund’s 173,000 tobacco shares are worth some €7m.

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