The giant Dutch civil service pension fund ABP is overhauling its investment policy and will put at least €10 billion into the Netherlands in the coming six years, of which €5 billion will go into affordable housing.

At the same time, ABP says it will exclude 30% of the world’s companies that do not meet its criteria on sustainability from its investment portfolio. The aim, the fund said, is to both make a social contribution and to better manage its portfolio risks.

“To date we have invested all over the world but now we are saying that we are going to look through climate and biodiversity glasses as well,” chairman Harmen van Wijnen told the Financieele Dagblad in an interview. The new strategy, he said, is “more ambitious and with more focus”.

Some 18 months ago ABP, which is one of the biggest pension funds in the world, said it would sell most of its investments in fossil fuel companies, including Shell, BP and TotalEnergies. Earlier, it ditched tobacco and controversial arms manufacturers.

ABP has €502 billion in assets under management and booked a return on investment of 9.3% last year. 

In the future, some 80% of its portfolio will be invested via funds rather than actively managed. Some €30 billion has been earmarked for impact investing, of which at least €10 billion will be in the Netherlands.

More could follow, Van Wijnen said, if there is a “coordinated approach between the big pension funds and government”. This, he told the paper, would mean an end to the “ad-hoc strategy whereby every time something comes up, they look to us”.