Hackney Council looks to divest pension fund from firms linked to human rights abuses

Hackney Council has begun reworking how its pension fund is invested, with the aim of excluding companies complicit in what it calls “territorial human rights violations.”

The move fulfils a commitment made by the borough’s new Green administration, elected in May, and marks the first concrete step towards divestment since it took office.

At its meeting on Wednesday 24 June, the council’s pensionscCommittee agreed to review its investment strategy, exploring a new framework intended to align the fund with the council’s stated principles, community accountability and the committee’s legal duties to scheme members.

An exclusion clause

The committee plans to add a clause to its responsible investment policy that would systematically exclude firms operating in territories subject to adverse findings by international bodies, among them the International Court of Justice and the United Nations, as well as the research groups Who Profits? and the American Friends Service Committee.

Such firms, the committee argues, present an unmitigated risk — both legal and operational — to the capital held on behalf of scheme members.

Officers have also been asked to consider how the council will consult scheme members and staff on a revised investment strategy statement.

‘Human rights and finance can work together’

Mayor of Hackney Zoë Garbett said the administration had been elected on a clear promise to divest and to apply the principles of the borough’s Borough of Sanctuary status “across everything we do,” thanking the campaigners, residents and fund members who had pressed for the change.

“For too long, conventional investment strategies have often prioritised financial considerations over basic regard for ethics and human rights,” she said. “We want to demonstrate these priorities can, and should, work together.”

Garbett said co-producing the new policy with scheme members would give those invested in the fund a say in how it is run, adding that it was “great to see the pensions committee moving so quickly on this.”

A duty to members

Cllr Izzy Castello-Cortes, who chairs the committee, said divestment was not at odds with sound financial management.

Introducing an exclusion clause sat alongside the council’s commitment to a genuinely ethical fund, she said, including guarding against reputational risk and advocating for members’ interests.

“We know that these decisions are strongest when they are transparent, and we look forward to working closely with our scheme members to represent their perspectives,” she said. “Our meetings are public, and we welcome Hackney residents’ attendance and questions.”

What happens next

Council officers will now begin developing formal exclusion metrics and drafting a consultation framework. An implementation proposal is expected to return to the pensions committee at a future meeting.