Councils on Merseyside involved in a joint pension fund are in dispute over how ethical its investment policy is. And there are now moves which could lead to a referendum of members on whether the fund's investments in companies involved in the arms trade should be halted. At the centre of the row are the fund's administrators, Wirral, which claims its investment policy follows United Nations' guidelines, and Liverpool, which has been pressing for a pull-out. Three other councils are partners in the fund, Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens, as well as organisations in the social housing sector and Liverpool John Moores university. As we go to press, the city council is considering a resolution, expected to win all-party support, calling for the fund to ballot its members on whether the statement of principals governing the fund should include an ethical dimension. A ballot would be seen as a straight vote on whether the fund should invest in arms firms. But Wirral claims there is no need for a ballot. Cllr Ann McLachlan, chair of the pensions committee, said the fund's investment policy already had ‘an ethical dimension'. She said: ‘The fund has signed up to the United Nations' Principles of Responsible Investment, which incorporate environmental, social and corporate governance factors into decision-making. This is a commitment to practise responsible investment, which we believe is best achieved as active, long-term shareholders, who can hope to hold companies to account on their ethical standards. We do not believe that disinvestment from companies achieves this goal.' A council statement added 100,000 people were relying on the pension fund and the committee had a legal obligation to ensure financial returns were optimised.
