The trustees of the New York City Fire Pension Fund voted on Thursday to divest its holdings of Russian securities, making it the last of the five pension funds in the New York City Retirement Systems to authorize divestiture.
The firefighter's pension fund held $19.5 million in Russian securities as of Feb. 25. Total plan assets were $19.3 billion as of Jan. 31, according to the comptroller's website.
"The hearts of FDNY members are with the innocent lives still in grave danger and the first responders bravely risking their lives to save others as their homeland is attacked," Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a news release announcing the firefighters' action.
Starting in early March, the individual pension fund trustees began voting to divest Russian securities:
- The New York City Police Pension Fund on March 1, which voted to divest $42.2 million. Total plan assets are $52 billion.
- The New York City Employees' Retirement System on March 2, which voted to divest $31.1 million. Total plan assets are $85.3 billion.
- The Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York, which voted to divest $90 million. Total plan assets are $100.5 billion.
- The Board of Education Retirement System on March 15, which voted to divest $3.1 million in Russian securities. Total plan assets are $8.8 billion
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Should Newtown Pension Funds Also Divest Russian Securities?
At the March 9, 2022, Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, supervisors signaled their intention to rid the township's pension fund of Russian stocks in protest against the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the apparent war crimes being committed by Russia in Ukraine.
The BOS specifically instructed the Township Manager to email the pension investment manager about this issue. Here's what the email states:
"The Board of Supervisors of Newtown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania is opposed to, and will refuse to do business with, any investment entity that is backed by or includes Russian investments. If Aberdeen Emerging Market Equity Fund, Inc. [ABEMX] does not divest itself of all Russian investments in a timely manner, the Township will seek to invest in an alternative fund."
UPDATE: On April 13, 2022, the Newtown Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to divest Twp pension funds of Aberdeen (ABEMX) holdings, which includes Russian & Chinese securities, and put 50% of the proceeds into a stock fund and 50% into a bond fund. Finally, we #StandWithUkraine!
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