New Report Finds US Pension Funds Including PERA have Over $800Million Invested in Russian War Chest

COLORADO -- New data from Stand.earth shows over $800 Million in US Pension Funds, including Colorado’s Public Employees Retirement Association, is invested in Russia’s war chest. PERA withdrew $7.2M from a Russian bank after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite having for years indicated that PERA will not make decisions on divestment unless told to do so by the Colorado General Assembly, according to their Statement on Divestment.

In the wake of PERA’s recent decision to divest from Russian banks, Colorado’s Fossil Free PERA has submitted a formal appeal to PERA to divest from Russian oil and gas companies. According to Stand.earth’s recent report, Colorado’s PERA currently has at least $8.4 Million in at least five Russian oil and gas companies. 

Fossil Free PERA has submitted formal appeals calling for general fossil fuel divestment since at least 2019, outlining the fiduciary imperative to divest from fossil fuels and citing potential losses in returns, increased climate related financial risk, and mounting concerns over the growing climate crisis and adverse impacts of fossil fuel investments on local communities. 

Fossil Free PERA is once again asking PERA to divest its assets of fossil fuel companies, this time focusing on Russian oil and gas companies.  “Colorado’s PERA is investing public funds in ways that threaten the health, safety and wellbeing of people across the globe,” says Giselle Herzfeld of 350 Colorado and the Fossil Free PERA Coalition. “Across our state, communities are experiencing dangerous consequences from oil and gas drilling, and now PERA’s investments in Russian oil and gas are directly tied to an unjust invasion in Ukraine. The question should be, do we want our public money and pension funds supporting this?” 

Colorado’s PERA has come under scrutiny for its fossil fuel investments in Suncor and Extraction Oil and Gas, two fossil fuel companies that have a long history of dangerous pollution violations, particularly near lower income communities and communities of color. Over 850 letters have been sent to PERA Board, Director, and staff highlighting concerns and calling for divestment. 

A 2021 report by BlackRock examined hundreds of divestment actions of funds worldwide and concluded that portfolios experienced no negative financial impacts as a result of divesting from fossil fuels. In fact, they found evidence of improvement in returns for those funds.