Today pension fund PFZW announces to break with BlackRock as external asset manager. This means that 11 billion euros are taken out of the hands of this American asset giant.

Together with pension participants, Fossielvrij has been calling on pension funds to break with BlackRock. This is the response of campaign lead Hiske Arts to this news:

“It’s fantastic news that PFZW is showing polluting asset managers like BlackRock the door. It’s also the only reasonable decision for a pension fund that wants to offer its participants a good retirement in a liveable world.

“The climate crisis poses the single biggest risk to pension assets: just think of the major real estate markets that are already becoming uninsurable due to wildfires and flooding, transport systems grinding to a halt as rivers dry up, and plummeting crop yields. Managing financial risks wisely is the core responsibility of a pension fund, and that means shifting money away from fossil fuels and towards climate solutions.

Asset managers such as BlackRock are turning their backs on the future in favour of reckless shortsightedness and predatory capitalism. They’re under Trump’s thumb, making Dutch pension assets especially vulnerable. It’s time for European finance to push back against this tide of foolish endangerment and make its own waves.

Several European pension funds have already broken with these American asset giants, with the British People’s Pension and Danish AkademikerPension withdrawing tens of billions from State Street. With PFZW becoming the first Dutch pension fund to Break with BlackRock, the wave of European pension funds choosing responsible money management grows. Now it’s time for ABP – the largest pension fund in the Netherlands – to follow suit.”

PZFW’s decision to put BlackRock on notice follows pushback from campaigners and pensioners over the asset management giant’s exit from the Net Zero Asset Managers Alliance in January, followed by a wider step back from responsible investment since the Trump inauguration and deepening security concerns.