Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, Hartford, is searching for a proxy advisory and governance consultant.
The $43 billion pension fund has issued an RFP for a firm due to the upcoming expiration in October of current consultant Institutional Shareholder Services, said a spokesman for…
State Treasurer Shawn Wooden has instructed his investment team to divest Connecticut’s pension funds from Russian-owned assets in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The retirement funds, valued at $47 billion, currently hold Russia-domiciled investments worth more than $218 million in equity and fixed income, the treasurer’s office said. Those holdings will be eliminated, not only to condemn Russia’s actions, but because the Russian invasion creates “substantial risk for Connecticut’s investments,” according to treasury officials.
Connecticut Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden said the state will eliminate any Russian-owned assets from its retirement plans and trust funds. The decision is as much about protest as it is business sense.
The state’s investment in companies in Russia and government debt issued by Russia amounts to $218 million, less than half of 1 percent of the state’s total retirement funds, and has been in decline since 2014.