Dutch pension funds have €2.5bn invested in Russia

Photo: DutchNews.nl
The banner read ‘so have a cold shower, turn off the gas taps.’ Photo: DutchNews.nl

Dutch pension funds have at least €2.5bn invested in Russian companies and state bonds, news website Nu.nl reported on Tuesday.

The 10 biggest funds have investments in companies such as Gazprom, Lukoil and Rosneftas well as banks Sberbank, Credit Bank of Moscow and VTB  – all of which will be impacted by EU and US sanctions, NU.nl said.

Nevertheless, most of the funds have fairly limited exposure and are current considering what to do with their Russian investments.

Civil service pension fund ABP, one of the biggest funds in the world with €540bn in assets, has an estimated  €1bn in Russia, having decided last year to ditch gas and oil investments.

Healthcare fund PFZW has €1.2bn in Russia, of which €700m is in state bonds. A spokesman told Nu.nl that the fund is following developments in Ukraine closely and will decide what to do shortly.

Of all the big funds, the retail sector fund Pensioenfonds Detailhandel is the most exposed to Russia, with 0.7% of its investments in bonds and corporate stock. A spokesman told Nu.nl that the board would decide on Thursday how to deal with the situation.

Construction sector fund BpfBouw has €58m in Russia, having sold around 75% of its investments in the past four to five months because of concerns about Putin’s behaviour, Nu.nl said.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation