Hackney Pensions Committee to Review Investment Strategy

Hackney’s pensions committee has agreed to review the council's responsible investment strategy and develop future exclusion criteria. The decision was made on 24 June, following a pledge by the Green party, which now leads the council, to divest the pension fund from companies allegedly supporting genocide.

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During a pensions committee meeting on 22 September, former Labour councillor Vincent Stops questioned the Green-led committee about aligning campaign rhetoric with legal duties. Mr Stops presented a Green party campaign leaflet that demanded immediate divestment from companies directly involved in alleged genocide. He asked for a list of these companies and the investment values to be divested.

The committee's chair, Izzy Castello-Cortes, stated that details of specific holdings would be provided in writing later. An actions log from 21 September indicated that information on the fund's holdings had been received from the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV), which manages the fund's assets. When pressed, Councillor Castello-Cortes confirmed that no divestment from companies involved in alleged genocide had occurred as of that date, but that significant steps were being taken to investigate the matter.

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The amount of Hackney's pension fund invested in firms linked to alleged human rights abuses is a point of contention. In 2024, the council stated that approximately 0.2 per cent of its pension fund, then valued at £1.994bn, was indirectly exposed through equity portfolios to firms listed on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) database. The council has provided figures ranging from £1.9m to £3.5m for this exposure.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has put forward a substantially higher figure, claiming that roughly £106m of Hackney's pension is invested in companies they allege are complicit in Israel's violations of Palestinian human rights. This figure is based on an analysis of 81 Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds. The Green party's campaign literature previously cited an figure of over £30m invested in companies directly involved in alleged genocide, though this was not included in their manifesto.

Previous Council Stance and External Management

In 2024, when Labour ran the council, the then chair of the pensions committee stated that the fund did not invest in individual companies but in pooled funds managed externally. The council also stated that moving to a highly customised alternative to these pooled funds would cost more than £2.1m in the first year and over £10m in five years, potentially breaching legal guidance. However, in September 2025, the council indicated it would work with the LCIV to create a framework for future exclusions of investments linked to conflict or genocide.

New Guidance and Future Steps

The committee's papers indicate that recent government statutory guidance, published on 29 June, prevents pension funds from excluding specific named companies. Instead, the focus is on developing a policy using lists and core beliefs aligned with the interests of pension scheme members. Officers noted that under this guidance, decisions on buying, holding, or selling individual investments now rest with the Pool. A draft stewardship statement suggests that engagement is considered a more effective mechanism for influencing corporate behaviour than exclusion or divestment alone.