Dutch pension fund PFZW has ended its partnership with wealth manager BlackRock as part of a major overhaul of its investment portfolio to prioritise sustainable investments.
PFZW, the Netherlands’ second-largest pension fund with assets of around €250 billion, announced on Wednesday that it had selected 756 companies for investment while divesting from more than 2,600 others in recent months. About €50 billion of its assets are invested in shares.
“For the next five years, we aim for a better balance between our need for good returns, acceptable risks and sustainability,” PFZW spokesperson Ellen Habermehl said.
The restructuring has resulted in the appointment of seven wealth managers, including Robeco, Schroders, UBS and Lazard, but BlackRock was excluded.
In an interview with Dutch newspaper NRC, PFZW’s investment manager PGGM explained that BlackRock’s reluctance to support sustainability resolutions at shareholder meetings had been a factor in the decision. “We want to avoid that our own votes at these meetings conflict with those of the wealth managers we work with. Otherwise things get very complicated,” said PGGM investment expert Sander van Stijn.
The move underscores how Dutch pension funds continue to prioritise sustainability as a long-term investment strategy, even as some U.S. and multinational firms shift away from such models following President Donald Trump’s re-election.
The country’s largest pension fund, ABP, which manages €544 billion, announced last year that it would reduce investments with a significant climate impact and increase allocations to companies and projects contributing to social and environmental improvements.
