This is a STRONG and very PUBLIC stance by one of the largest public pension plans in the country.
March 7, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) trustees on Friday voted to oppose proposed state legislation that targets foreign government-controlled cash reserves called sovereign wealth funds.
In a press release CalSTRS said it is against California Assembly Bill 1967 due to its restriction to the board's investment authority and significant negative financial impact to the investment portfolio. The proposed state legislation would:
Prohibit CalSTRS and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) from new or renewed investments with private equity companies wholly or partially owned by a sovereign wealth fund affiliated with a country with a poor record on human rights, and
Require extensive research, evaluation and reporting by CalSTRS on foreign affairs before making a new investment in firms affiliated with sovereign wealth funds that are not prohibited by the bill.
"This bill would be a blow to the retirement security of teachers while doing nothing to ensure a better world," said Dana Dillon, Teachers' Retirement Board chair and teacher/librarian with the Weed Union Elementary School District, in the release. “We have a strong record of addressing these issues in our investment decisions.”
Monday, March 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Friday, October 19, 2007
Buffett Sells PetroChina Stake
Buffett sells entire PetroChina stake
From the Financial Times:
By Richard McGregor in Beijing
Published: October 19 2007 04:55 | Last updated: October 19 2007 11:20
Warren Buffett has sold the last of his shares in PetroChina, the Chinese state-owned oil company, but brushed aside suggestions that the sale was in response to a disinvestment campaign over its parent company’s ties to Sudan.
In an interview with Fox Business Network, Mr Buffett said the sale was “based on price”, while admitting that he may have sold a little too early because of recent strong gains in PetroChina’s share price.
He said the stock price had more than doubled in the US since a shareholder meeting earlier this year voted down a proposal for Mr Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway insurance and investment company to divest from the stock.
From the Financial Times:
By Richard McGregor in Beijing
Published: October 19 2007 04:55 | Last updated: October 19 2007 11:20
Warren Buffett has sold the last of his shares in PetroChina, the Chinese state-owned oil company, but brushed aside suggestions that the sale was in response to a disinvestment campaign over its parent company’s ties to Sudan.
In an interview with Fox Business Network, Mr Buffett said the sale was “based on price”, while admitting that he may have sold a little too early because of recent strong gains in PetroChina’s share price.
He said the stock price had more than doubled in the US since a shareholder meeting earlier this year voted down a proposal for Mr Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway insurance and investment company to divest from the stock.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
California Terminates Iranian Investments
California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed a measure to ban public plan investment in Iran. California is home to the two largest pension funds in the United States, California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, with combined assets of $428 billion. Early news reports estimate that the plans will be forced to sell $3.4 billion in assets. The final divestment costs are yet to be determined, but unloading the shares at a conservative cost of 0.25% would cost the plans nearly $10 million.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Capital Goes Where Capital is Demanded
I would guess that Turkish Petroleum Company and its investors will profit majestically from the deal described below. I would also guess that this will not be the last deal that creatively circumvents institutional divestiture efforts.
Turkey to Finance Iran Gas Project Without Partners
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
October 4, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey -- The financing of a $3.5 billion investment in Iranian gas production will come entirely from a state-owned company, as U.S. opposition has put off foreign investors, officials at the Turkish Energy Ministry said yesterday.
Washington is urging countries to cut business ties with Iran over its failure to suspend its nuclear-energy program, and is spearheading a drive for a third sanctions resolution against Iran in the United Nations Security Council.
The U.S. also plans new unilateral actions as a means to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program, which the U.S. says is aimed at building a bomb and Iran says is for peaceful purposes.
Senior Turkish energy officials, who declined to be named, said the Turkish Petroleum Corp. will start investing in Iran's South Pars gas-field project as soon as a comprehensive agreement is signed in the second half of this month.
Ankara and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in July.
"Turkey can completely cover the necessary amount for the investment," one of the officials said. The official said the project had not sought credit from foreign institutions, given their unwillingness to finance projects linked to Iran.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he was not aware of the planned $3.5 billion investment, but he reiterated U.S. opposition to such a move.
"In principle, we don't think it is the right time to be investing in the Iranian oil and gas sector given the questions surrounding the activities of the Iranian government pursuing weapons of mass destruction and also being the most significant state sponsor of terrorism," Mr. McCormack said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his government's deal with Iran, saying no country can ask Ankara to give up the relationships it has with energy suppliers.
Turkey to Finance Iran Gas Project Without Partners
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
October 4, 2007
ANKARA, Turkey -- The financing of a $3.5 billion investment in Iranian gas production will come entirely from a state-owned company, as U.S. opposition has put off foreign investors, officials at the Turkish Energy Ministry said yesterday.
Washington is urging countries to cut business ties with Iran over its failure to suspend its nuclear-energy program, and is spearheading a drive for a third sanctions resolution against Iran in the United Nations Security Council.
The U.S. also plans new unilateral actions as a means to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program, which the U.S. says is aimed at building a bomb and Iran says is for peaceful purposes.
Senior Turkish energy officials, who declined to be named, said the Turkish Petroleum Corp. will start investing in Iran's South Pars gas-field project as soon as a comprehensive agreement is signed in the second half of this month.
Ankara and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in July.
"Turkey can completely cover the necessary amount for the investment," one of the officials said. The official said the project had not sought credit from foreign institutions, given their unwillingness to finance projects linked to Iran.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he was not aware of the planned $3.5 billion investment, but he reiterated U.S. opposition to such a move.
"In principle, we don't think it is the right time to be investing in the Iranian oil and gas sector given the questions surrounding the activities of the Iranian government pursuing weapons of mass destruction and also being the most significant state sponsor of terrorism," Mr. McCormack said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his government's deal with Iran, saying no country can ask Ankara to give up the relationships it has with energy suppliers.
Monday, September 17, 2007
via: FT.com - France calls for Iran investment boycott
France calls for Iran investment boycott
By Peggy Hollinger and Pan Kwan Yuk in Paris
Published: September 16 2007 23:40
The French government has asked the country’s biggest companies not to invest in Iran, as the tension mounts over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions ahead of a meeting this week of the world’s big powers. Bernard Kouchner, France’s foreign minister, on Sunday indicated that France’s newly elected government had joined forces with Washington to solicit a sort of unofficial boycott of Iranian projects. “We have asked a certain number of our big companies not to respond to Iranian tenders. I think this has been heard and we are not the only ones to have done so,” he said in a televised interview."
I wonder if France's boycott will work any better than the United State's efforts? One must wonder if the message is being conveyed in a straightforward or even possibly uniform manner. Unfortunately, only time will tell, as in the example of Weatherford. I still do not think that story has been fully told.
By Peggy Hollinger and Pan Kwan Yuk in Paris
Published: September 16 2007 23:40
The French government has asked the country’s biggest companies not to invest in Iran, as the tension mounts over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions ahead of a meeting this week of the world’s big powers. Bernard Kouchner, France’s foreign minister, on Sunday indicated that France’s newly elected government had joined forces with Washington to solicit a sort of unofficial boycott of Iranian projects. “We have asked a certain number of our big companies not to respond to Iranian tenders. I think this has been heard and we are not the only ones to have done so,” he said in a televised interview."
I wonder if France's boycott will work any better than the United State's efforts? One must wonder if the message is being conveyed in a straightforward or even possibly uniform manner. Unfortunately, only time will tell, as in the example of Weatherford. I still do not think that story has been fully told.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Loopholes
Weatherford, a U.S. based energy firm, has decided to pull out of Sudan after Fortune exposed the company’s operations in Sudan. To operate in Sudan, Weatherford used a foreign-registered subsidiary staffed solely with non-U.S. citizens which are exempt from U.S. sanctions law. Some have speculated that Weatherford feared bad publicity over legal action. The company “was operating out of an unmarked two-story house” but now will begin withdrawing from the country in an “orderly” fashion. The actual time it will take to unwind contracts and shutdown operations is unknown.
We applaud Fortune for revealing Weatherford’s covert business approaches and for making KLD and other terror free list publishers’ jobs a little easier.
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