World Beyond War and RootsAction.org – 2017-11-27 22:15:58
Divestment: NoWar2017 Conference
Jonathan King, Susi Snyder, Terry Crawford-Browne (September 23, 2017)
ACTION ALERT:
Divest Public Pension Funds from Weapons Dealers
World Beyond War and RootsAction.org
While governments buy weapons, market weapons to other governments, donate weapons to other governments, and bestow tax breaks on weapons dealers, there is another less-visible way in which public money sustains weapons dealing.
Public pension and retirement funds are invested, directly and indirectly, in weapons companies. Teachers and other public servants whose interests ought to lie with promoting human needs have their retirement security tied up with maintaining or enlarging the war industry.
To join us in working on this campaign, fill out the online form at the bottom of this Webpage.
big>TOP WEAPONS DEALERS
We’re starting by looking only at investment in the top 20 weapons dealers in the world. These are their names and where they are based (though they sell their weapons all over the world):
Lockheed Martin, United States
Boeing, United States
BAE Systems, United Kingdom — and subsidiary: BAE Systems Inc., United States
Raytheon, United States
Northrop Grumman, United States
General Dynamics, United States
Airbus Group, Trans-European
United Technologies Corp., United States — and subsidiary: Pratt & Whitney, United States
Finmeccanica, Italy
L-3 Communications, United States
Almaz-Antey, Russia
Thales, France
Huntington Ingalls Industries, United States
United Aircraft Corp., Russia
United Shipbuilding Corp., Russia
Rolls-Royce, United Kingdom
SAFRAN, France
Honeywell International, United States
Textron, United States
DCNS, France
You may notice that none of these companies is located in the parts of the world afflicted by warfare, while half of them are in the United States, seven in Europe and three in Russia.
Please sign this global petition against public investment in weapons dealing.
If you live in one of these places, please sign this specific petition as well:
Canada.
Japan.
United Kingdom.
If you live in one of these US states or cities, please click to sign a petition to your state legislators and governors or city councils and mayors:
California.
Delaware.
Michigan.
New York.
North Dakota.
Texas.
Wisconsin.
If you live in any other part of the US, please click here to email your state legislators.
If you live in one of the above locations, including specifically Chicago or New York City, and would like to take the lead on organizing local education and protest and lobbying actions, contact us.
Public retirement investment in an industry that threatens to cut short all of our retirements is ironic but widespread. We don’t know how widespread. If you have information, especially on parts of the world not yet included here, please share it with us.
CANADA
The Canada Pension Plan has these investments in 12 of the top 20 weapons dealers: [1]
* Lockheed Martin: 133 shares, market value $38M
* Boeing: 305 shares, market value $50M
* BAE Systems: 934 shares, market value $9M (note: this is an investment in the UK BAE, none in the US subsidiary)
* Raytheon: 131 shares, market value $21M
* Northrop Grumman: 142 shares, market value $36M.
* General Dynamics: 114 shares, market value $19M
* General Electric: 3557 shares, market value $146M
* United Technologies: 186 shares, market value $24M
* L-3 Communications: 124 shares, market value $19M
* Thales: 133 shares, market value $15M
* Huntington Ingalls: 135 shares, market value $24M
* SAFRAN: 177 shares, market value $16M
JAPAN
The single largest pension fund on earth is the Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan. [2]
Its investments include:
* BAE — $20,210,582,394 — 21,685,640 shares
* Boeing — $81,910,132,740 — 4,550,982 shares
* Finmeccanica — $3,631,487,860 — 2,544,637 shares
* General Dynamics — $30,994,240,244 — 1,904,125 shares
* Honeywell — $75,954,577,525 — 6,071,812 shares
* L-3 — $8,094,474,705 — 536,578 shares
* Lockheed Martin — $45,810,122,730 — 1,882,094 shares
* Northrop Grumman — $25,675,320,046 — 1,330,112 shares
* Raytheon — $31,189,321,224 — 2,366,026 shares
* Rolls Royce — $25,067,231,930 — 14,774,867 shares
* Safran — $20,782,961,926 — 2,482,419 shares
* Textron — $9,491,086,465 — 1,784,508 shares
* Thales — $3,724,150,151 — 559,265 shares
That’s billions of dollars in each of 13 of the top 20 weapons dealers in the world, by a government engaged in a debate over whether to uphold its peace constitution and refrain from waging war. [3]
UNITED KINGDOM
According to this report, pension funds in the UK are forbidden to “pursue boycotts, divestment and sanctions against foreign nations and UK defence industries.”[4]
CALIFORNIA
The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS, the sixth largest pension fund on earth [5]) is invested in the following weapons dealers. [6]
* BAE Systems (United Kingdom), $77 million, 0.11% of total holdings.
* Airbus Group (Trans-European), $1411 million, or 0.20%.
* Finmeccanica (Italy), $29 million, or 0.04%.
* Thales (France), $18 million, or 0.03%.
* Rolls-Royce (United Kingdom), $98 million, or 0.14%.
* SAFRAN (France), $64 million, or 0.09%.
* Lockheed Martin, $167 million, or 0.22% of their total holdings.
* Boeing, $252 million, or 0.33%.
* Raytheon, $94 million, or 0.12%.
* Northrop Grumman, $123 million, or 0.16%.
* General Dynamics, $143 million, or 0.19%.
* United Technologies, $333 million, or 0.44%.
* L-3 Communications, $36 million, or 0.05%.
* Huntington Ingalls, $26 million, or 0.03%.
* Honeywell International, $309 million, or 0.41%.
* Textron, $34 million, or 0.04%.
In addition, the California State Teachers Retirement System (CALSTRS) as of June 30, 2016 is invested in the following. The first number is that of shares, the second the market value in thousands of dollars:
Domestic Equities:
* Lockheed Martin Corp 738,165 $183,190
* Boeing Co/The 1,635,727 $212,432
* Raytheon Company 1,632,503 $221,939
* Northrop Grumman Corp 865,662 $192,419
* General Dynamics Corp 827,634 $115,240
* United Technologies Corp 2,061,864 $211,444
* L 3 Communications Holdings 183,143 $26,865
* Huntington Ingalls Industries 146,966 $24,695
* Honeywell International Inc 2,201,040 $256,025
* Textron Inc 644,048 $23,546
International Equities:
* BAE Systems Plc 4,286,549 $30,027
* Airbus Group Se 1,149,559 $66,064
* Thales Sa 287,942 $23,995
* Rolls Royce Holdings Plc 3,158,670 $30,043
* Safran Sa 575,968 $38,981[7]
DELAWARE
The Delaware Public Employees Retirement System is invested in United Technologies Corporation in the amount of $29,927,361 — which is 0.32% of its holdings, and 269,786 shares of the company. This is one of the top 10 investments of this fund which may be invested in other weapons companies as well that are not in its top 10 investments.
ILLINOIS
The Municipal Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago is invested in these weapons dealers:
* Lockheed Martin $8,127,707 — 0.7% — 37,429 shares — Unrealised Gain/Loss $5,358,314
* Honeywell International $7,153,787 — 0.7% — 69,072 shares — Unrealised Gain/Loss $3,407,048
These are two of the top 10 investments of this fund which may be invested in other weapons companies as well that are not in its top 10 investments.
MICHIGAN
The Municipal Employees Retirement System of Michigan is invested in these weapons dealers:
* United Technologies Corporation $18,001,693 — 0.2%
* Honeywell International, Inc. $15,566,882 — 0.18%
These are two of the top 10 investments of this fund which may be invested in other weapons companies as well that are not in its top 10 investments.
NEW YORK
The New York State Teachers Retirement System (the 22nd biggest pension fund on earth[8]) is invested (see these two PDFs for details: One. Two.) in Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, United Technologies, Honeywell, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Textron. What lesson is this teaching New York’s students?
In addition, the New York City Employees Retirement System is invested in United Technologies to the tune of $71,899,692 — 0.4% — 703,383 shares. This is one of the top 10 investments of this fund which may be invested in other weapons companies as well that are not in its top 10 investments.
Further, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which comprises the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) and which is managed by the Division of Pension Investment and Cash Management in the Office of the State Comptroller, is invested in the following war profiteers:
* Boeing 901,785 shares $139,921 value 9/30/16
* General Dynamics 1,632,825 shares
* Raytheon 906,000 shares
* General Dynamics 901,785 shares
* Lockheed Martin 765,900 shares
* United Technologies 2,331,020 shares
* Honeywell 2,908,100 shares [9]
More information on the investments of the New York State Common Retirement Fund is available. As of March 31, 2016, they are as follows. The first number is that of shares, the second the cost of shares, the third the value as of March 31, 2016:
* Lockheed Martin Corp. 742,600 $56,362,293 $164,485,900
* Boeing Company/The 1,806,182 $83,791,299 $229,276,743
* BAE Systems plc 3,157,759 $19,892,919 $23,101,713
* Raytheon Company 867,400 $48,594,251 $106,369,262
* Northrop Grumman Corp. 591,303 $42,705,500 $117,018,864
* General Dynamics Corp. 887,380 $55,909,841 $116,575,111
* Airbus Group Nv 449,650 $27,737,120 $29,898,461
* United Technologies Corp. 2,508,971 $115,531,837 $251,147,997
* L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. 198,900 $24,205,180 $23,569,650
* Thales S.A. 178,352 $9,241,933 $15,649,558
* Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. 158,416 $8,795,662 $21,693,487
* Rolls-Royce Holdings plc 228,359 $2,951,416 $2,238,463
* Safran S.A. 215,919 $15,120,612 $15,127,184
* Honeywell International, Inc. 2,117,900 $77,284,056 $237,310,695
* Textron, Inc. 687,696 $30,201,721 $25,073,396 [10]
NORTH DAKOTA
This is the state with a public bank that is invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline. The North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office is invested in these weapons dealers:
* Boeing Company $18,613,588 — 134,181 shares
* Safran SA $13,578,820 — 200,478 shares
These are two of the top 10 investments of this fund which may be invested in other weapons companies as well that are not in its top 10 investments.
In addition, the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System is invested in:
* Boeing Company $9,430,550
* Safran SA $6,840,016
These are two of the top 10 investments of this fund which may be invested in other weapons companies as well that are not in its top 10 investments.
TEXAS
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas (#18 on World’s Largest Pensions as of 2015 according to: pension360.org ) has these investments in 14 of the top 20 weapons dealers (in number of shares):
* Lockheed Martin Corp 219,869.000
* Boeing Co 408,212.000
* BAE Systems 1,275,550.000
* Raytheon Company 322,676.000
* Northrop Grumman Corp 292,680.000
* General Dynamic Corp 66,502.000
* Airbus Group 727,144.000
* United Technologies Corp 250,528.000
* L3 Communications Holdings 311,140.000
* Thales 354,221.000
* Huntington Ingalls 393,237.000
* Rolls Royce Group 3,788,702.000
* Rolls Royce Hldgs 51,728,610.000
* Rolls Royce Holdings 1,124,535.000
* Safran 918,509.000
* Honeywell 791,020.000
* Textron 22,430.000 [11]
WISCONSIN
The Wisconsin Investment Board (#24 on World’s Largest Pensions in 2015, according to: pension360.org) is invested in the following. The first number listed is that of shares and the second number represents the value as of December 31, 2014.
Core Retirement Investment Trust:
* Lockheed Martin 225,673 43,457,850
* Boeing 604,526 78,576,289
* BAE Systems 3,018,388 22,214,309
* Raytheon 513,783 55,575,907
* Northrop Grumman 276,822 40,800,795
* General Dynamics 181,544 24,984,085
* Airbus Group 266,525 13,335,730
* United Technologies 1,264,998 145,474,770
* Finmeccanica 183,391 1,716,491
* L-3 Communications Holdings 132,101 16,672,467
* Thales 42,182 2,296,650
* Huntington Ingalls 29,165 3,279,896
* Rolls Royce Hldgs C 173,538,630 270,590
* Rolls-Royce Holdings 1,749,286 23,729,896
* Safran 740,482 45,921,038
* Honeywell International 1,091,644 109,077,068
* Textron 165,721 6,978,511
Variable Retirement Income Trust:
* Lockheed Martin 58,926 11,347,380
* Boeing 155,056 20,154,179
* BAE Systems 332,151 2,444,518
* Raytheon 96,929 10,484,810
* Northrop Grumman 57,067 8,411,105
* General Dynamics 57,033 7,848,881
* Airbus Group 22,946 1,148,116
* United Technologies 255,384 29,369,160
* Finmeccanica 15,801 147,893
* L-3 Communications Holdings 26,571 3,353,526
* Thales 3,629 197,585
* Huntington Ingalls 9,164 1,030,583
* Rolls Royce Hldgs C 13,078,890 20,393
* Rolls-Royce Holdings 136,015 1,845,108
* Safran 68,955 4,276,249
* Honeywell International 215,674 21,550,146
* Textron 52,042 2,191,489 [12]
WHAT NOW?
The above is probably just scratching the surface. It’s just what we know so far, not all there is to know. There are many ways in which funds may be indirectly invested in weapons (such as through investment in these funds).
For example, there are fund management groups that are invested in weapons dealers:
Ameriprise invests in United Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Huntington, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Raytheon. Blackrock Group invests in LTD Honeywell, Raytheon, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin. [13]
We don’t have to know the full extent of the investment in order to begin making any such investments unacceptable, shameful, and illegal. War profiteering was, in fact, once deemed reprehensible. It has been in great measure normalized. The goal of this project is to render it unacceptable and impossible to engage in.
FOOTNOTES
1. Researched by Sarita Vogels.
2. According to pension360.org, researched by Corey Raths.
3. Researched by Gayle Morrow.
4. Researched by Gayle Morrow.
5. Researched by Jim Bearden.
6. According to pension360.org, researched by Corey Raths.
7. Researched by Corey Raths.
8. According to pension360.org, researched by Corey Raths.
9. Researched by Gayle Morrow in the Mergent Online database.
10. Researched by Corey Raths.
11. Researched by Corey Raths.
12. Researched by Corey Raths.
13. Researched by Gayle Morrow in the Mergent Online database.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
