Norway's sovereign wealth fund expels unethical tobacco producers.
Jump to full article: Swedish Wire AB (se), 2010-01-19
Intro: Norway sovereign wealth fund has kicks out 17 tobacco producers -- including Swedish Match -- from its 450 billion dollar portfolio for ethical reasons, the government said in a statement Tuesday.
'It is important that the ethical guidelines reflect at all times what can be considered to be commonly held values of the owners of the fund,' Finance Minister Sigbjorn Johnsen said. "The divestment of shares in these companies has now been completed".
Also British groups British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco, US groups Altria, Philip Morris and Reynolds American and Japanese company Japan Tobacco were expelled.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund -- which contains nearly all of the state revenues from the oil industry in Norway, one of the world's largest oil and gas exporters -- holds 1.0 percent of the world's total stock market capitalisation.
Shares in Swedish Match, tobacco producer founded in 1917 by the “Match-king” Ivar Kreuger and today specializing in snuff, cigars and lights products, dropped 0.80 percent in Stockholm.
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