'Investing pension funds in medicines with endangered species in it'

At least twelve Dutch pension funds invest in Chinese medicine manufacturers who incorporate endangered species in their products. That reports research platform Argos Friday.

This includes the ABN AMRO Pensioenfonds, the pension fund for the Dutch wholesaler, the pension fund of the STIPP and Pension Fund for the Care and Welfare (PFZW) employment fund.

The pharmaceutical companies in which these funds invest, produce traditional Chinese medicines in which leopard bones and the scales of scaly animals are incorporated, for example. The medicines would be good against rheumatism and joint pain, but there is no scientific evidence for that.

Both the leopard and the scaly are threatened with extinction. According to the so-called Cites treaty, which also signed the Netherlands and China, trade in these animals is prohibited.

'Negative effects reduce'

It is unclear how the Chinese companies could have achieved leopards and pubs legally, Argos writes. According to experts who spoke to the research platform, it is likely that the animals have been traded illegally.

Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn is the second largest pension fund in the Netherlands. It manages the pensions of nearly 3 million participants and at the end of 2024 had an invested capital of almost 260 billion euros.

On his website writes the « negative effects » fund of its investments. For that reason, PFZW says he does not invest in, for example, tobacco manufacturers, coal companies or producers of Bont.

Basket

When asked about the reason that PFZW does invest in companies that process threatened animal species in medicines, a spokesperson explains that the fund is investing its assets in part in index funds. These are 'baskets' containing shares of all kinds of different companies, for example from the pharmaceutical industry.

There, the investor says he filters « the worst violators in the field of human rights and sustainability » – but not all. « In our investments we make a trade -off between sustainability, returns, and risk spreads, » said the spokesperson. « After all, we also have to guarantee a good pension for our participants. »

A producer of the controversial Chinese medicines is therefore not yet covered by the parties that excludes the fund. PFZW does not want to say whether it will sharpen his policy as a result of the unveiling of Argos.

To share





Mail the editors