DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

25 October 2025
Newsletter Donate Advertise
  • News
  • Life in the Netherlands
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Search
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Election 2025
  • Art and culture
  • Sport
  • Europe
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Education
  • News
    • Home
    • Economy
    • Election 2025
    • Art and culture
    • Sport
    • Europe
    • Society
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Education
  • Life in the Netherlands
    • Latest
    • Opinion
    • Books
    • Travel
    • 10 Questions
    • Learning Dutch
    • Inburgering with DN
    • Food & Drink
    • Ask us anything
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
    • Team
    • Donate
    • Advertise
    • Writing for Dutch News
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

Dutch pension fund ABP sold Meta and Alphabet as well as Tesla

February 18, 2025
Facebook app on mobile phone
Photo: Depositphotos.com

The giant Dutch civil service pension fund ABP sold its stakes in Alphabet and Meta in the third quarter of last year, as well as Tesla, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Tuesday.

The companies no longer met ABP’s stricter criteria for responsible entrepreneurship, the paper said, adding that the sale was part of a divestment of some 900 out of 2,000 positions.

The paper bases its claims on an analysis of ABP’s investment strategy. ABP is the biggest pension fund in Europe and one of the biggest in the world with an investment portfolio totalling some €500 billion.

The parent companies of Google, Facebook and WhatsApp, together with Tesla, particularly fail ABP’s criteria for good governance, fund chairman Harmen van Wijnen told the paper in an interview.

ABP, for example, was one of the companies objecting to Tesla’s reward strategy for owner Elon Musk.

Both Tesla and Meta were included on ABP’s “engagement list”, a list of companies with which the fund was in contact to encourage good governance. With Meta, the conversation focused on human rights and corporate ethics, with Tesla the environment and working conditions, the paper said.

ABP has also sold its stakes in pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, halved its portfolio invested in Israeli companies, and ditched Ahold and Philips. Its investments in Unilever and ING have been increased.

The FD said ABP had almost €3 billion invested in Alphabet, €2 billion in Meta and, as reported earlier, €600 million in Tesla. Its investments in Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon increased, maintaining total investment in the “magnificent seven” at around €20 billion.

The decision to sell the companies is unconnected to Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk’s support for Donald Trump, Van Wijnen said. “We are agnostic when it comes to Trump”.

Share this article
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Copy URL
Business Economy Pensions Stock exchange
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
Latest
Show more
Why Geert Wilders won’t be the next Dutch prime minister
ADE speakers outline the Middle East conflict's impact on music
More sleep this weekend as the clocks go back one hour
Podcast: The Poorly Polling Palingpopulist Edition
Moving city: interactive model of 750-year-old Amsterdam opens
NewsHomeEconomyElection 2025Art and cultureSportEuropeSocietyEnvironmentHealthHousingEducation
Life in the NetherlandsLatestOpinionBooksTravel10 QuestionsLearning DutchInburgering with DNFood & DrinkAsk us anything
About usTeamDonateAdvertiseWriting for Dutch NewsContact usPrivacyNewsletter
© 2025 DutchNews | Cookie settings

Help us to keep providing you with up-to-date news about this month's Dutch general election.

Our thanks to everyone who donates regularly to Dutch News. It costs money to produce our daily news service, our original features and daily newsletters, and we could not do it without you.

If you have not yet made a donation, or did so a while ago, you can do so via these links

The DutchNews.nl team

Donate now

Dutchnews Survey

Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey.

Take part now