The Pension Investment Committee has agreed to more engagement with fund managers so that they can ‘talk about investments in defense, conflict zones and any other issues that cause concerns’. It’s up to us now to ensure they honour this commitment and follow through with divestment from companies complicit in Israeili apartheid and genocide.
Its important to note that Lewisham Council has not altered their investments to reflect this proposed change in investment strategy.
Most of the complicit companies sit in the council's largest fund, the Passive Equity Progressive Paris Aligned Fund or PEPPA for short. These companies include several Israeli banks that fund the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. The fund also includes investment in Palantir, a company that provides advanced AI tools to the Israeli military, enabling Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.