Danish pension scheme halts Russian investments

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension will immediately halt new investments in Russian assets after President Vladimir Putin recognised Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent, it said on Tuesday. The $23 billion fund said it would stop new investments in Russian government bonds and companies where the Russian state owns stakes of more than 50%.

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension will immediately halt new investments in Russian assets after President Vladimir Putin recognised Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent, it said on Tuesday.

The $23 billion fund said it would stop new investments in Russian government bonds and companies where the Russian state owns stakes of more than 50%. "Putin's formal recognition of the two separatist republics is a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty, which is a violation of international law. And it is also a breach of our policy on responsible investments," the fund's chief executive Jens Munch Holst said in a statement.

The quarantine on Russian investments can run for a maximum period of six months but could become an definite exclusion, he added. AkademikerPension said it owns 373 million Danish crowns ($56.87 million) worth of Russian government securities and shares in companies where the Russian state owns more than 50%, representing 0.3% of its portfolio.