Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe with Iranian President Ahmadinejad

The Irish National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission commented today on recent media reports concerning investment in Zimbabwe.

The NPRF said it is incorrect to state that €578m, or 3%, of the National Pensions Reserve Fund is invested in Zimbabwe-based companies.

The Fund’s investments include shares in multinational companies with a presence in dozens of countries around the world including, in some cases, Zimbabwe. Many, if not most, of these companies also have operations in Ireland.

The Fund said that it is incorrect to describe Barclays Bank, BP, Nestle and other global companies as Zimbabwe-based on the grounds that they have a presence in Zimbabwe. It is also incorrect to treat the Fund’s investment in these companies as having been entirely invested in Zimbabwe, which appears to be the basis for the euro578m figure cited in recent reports.

Nonetheless, the Commission is raising with these companies the concerns which have been expressed.

The National Pension Reserve Fund Commission’s investment mandate, as set out in Section 19 of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act, 2000, provides that the Fund shall be invested so as to secure the optimal financial return provided the level of risk to the moneys invested is acceptable to the Commission. The mandate is not qualified by any ethical investment criteria.

The Fund says it has gone as far as possible in accordance with its statutory investment mandate to adopt and implement a responsible investment policy and is actively pursuing a policy of engaging with companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

In July of 2007 it appointed Hermes Equity Ownership Services (EOS) to execute proxy votes and engage with companies on its behalf across its global equity portfolio.