Imagine a tobacco-free world.
Let’s start with tobacco-free finance.
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It makes no sense to fight tobacco on one hand and to finance it on the other.
In California, public health programs are spending billions every year treating cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and many other diseases linked to tobacco use, which is why I have made it a mission of mine to ensure that not one penny, nickel, or dime of public funds is invested in a product that kills our citizens.
It makes no sense to fight tobacco on one hand and to finance it on the other.
Tobacco Free Portfolios is an accomplished team of medical doctors, ethics experts and sustainable finance professionals, located in three different key financial markets and actively working across more than twenty countries. Working collaboratively with finance leaders – spanning banking, insurance, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset management and rating agencies – the Tobacco Free Portfolios team puts tobacco-free finance on the agenda. Tobacco exclusions are increasingly considered a fundamental step on the journey to integrate sustainability, responsibility and transparency into the fabric of mainstream business. In the process, a new bridge is being built between the health and finance sectors and a novel approach to bring an end to the world’s greatest cause of preventable death, is being embraced.
Tobacco Free Portfolios is an accomplished team of medical doctors, ethics experts and sustainable finance professionals with a global reach. Working collaboratively with finance leaders – spanning banking, insurance, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset management and rating agencies – the Tobacco Free Portfolios team has put tobacco-free finance on the agenda across Europe.
Tobacco exclusions are increasingly accepted as a fundamental cornerstone and step on the journey to integrate sustainability, responsibility and transparency into the fabric of mainstream business. In the process, new bridges have been built between the health and finance sectors, and a novel approach to bring an end to the world’s greatest cause of preventable death, is being embraced.
The European finance sector has led in implementing tobacco-free finance, with some of the world’s largest pension funds, banks, insurers and asset managers celebrating the global health benefits and positive financial outcomes of a tobacco-free position.
Financial institutions across the USA are rapidly expanding offerings of sustainability-aligned products, as unprecedented demand surges. Sustainability is now entrenched as a material issue in corporate boardrooms, where frameworks are being drafted, tested and refined. Tobacco-free finance is a crucial step on this journey.
The world is on track for one billion tobacco-related deaths this century
Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.
Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.
Clare Payne – AdvisorAdvisor
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).
Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.
Allison Biggin – Operations ManagerOperations Manager
Allison has extensive experience across various industries in the areas of governance, process improvement, information technology, project and change management. She spent a large portion of her career within the financial services industry in various operations roles covering Customer Relationship Management, Digital and Contact Centre.
Patricio V. Marquez – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Patricio is a former World Bank Group (WBG) Lead Public Health Specialist. He retired in August 2019 after 32 years of service, where he worked in over 80 countries across the world, and led the Global Tobacco Taxation Program and the Global Mental Health Initiative. In March 2020, he returned to the WBG as Consultant to support the preparation and implementation of the US$6 billion COVID-19 Global Emergency Response Program in the health sector and the implementation of the US$20 billion Additional Financing for COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination across the world, and was the co-author of the “Better Together: A Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for the World Bank Group”, which was launched in May 2022.
Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.
Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.
Clare Payne – AdvisorAdvisor
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).
Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.
Allison Biggin – Operations ManagerOperations Manager
Allison has extensive experience across various industries in the areas of governance, process improvement, information technology, project and change management. She spent a large portion of her career within the financial services industry in various operations roles covering Customer Relationship Management, Digital and Contact Centre.
Patricio V. Marquez – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Patricio is a former World Bank Group (WBG) Lead Public Health Specialist. He retired in August 2019 after 32 years of service, where he worked in over 80 countries across the world, and led the Global Tobacco Taxation Program and the Global Mental Health Initiative. In March 2020, he returned to the WBG as Consultant to support the preparation and implementation of the US$6 billion COVID-19 Global Emergency Response Program in the health sector and the implementation of the US$20 billion Additional Financing for COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination across the world, and was the co-author of the “Better Together: A Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for the World Bank Group”, which was launched in May 2022.
Dr Bronwyn King AO, MBBS, FRANZCR – Founder, Director and CEOFounder, Director and CEO
Dr. Bronwyn King AO began her medical career working as a doctor on the lung cancer ward at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. While doing her best to treat her patients (many of whom had started smoking in childhood) Dr King observed first-hand the truly devastating impact of tobacco - many deaths and much suffering. She was unaware that at the very same time she was investing in Big Tobacco via her compulsory superannuation (pension) fund. Tobacco Free Portfolios was set up in response to that uncomfortable discovery. Since then, Dr King has assembled an accomplished team that has been instrumental in advancing the switch to tobacco-free finance across the globe. Her 2017 TEDxSydney talk on tobacco-free finance has been viewed more than three million times.
Rebecca E. Brown, CFP® – USA DirectorUSA Director
Rebecca serves as USA Director for Tobacco Free Portfolios and is responsible for collaborating with organizations to forward the work of tobacco-free finance across the United States. Previously, Rebecca worked for Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, LLC (CRM), a boutique asset manager, as Director of Marketing and Client Service for over 16 years. There she was responsible for both institutional and high net worth client service, marketing, and business development. Importantly, she led the firm’s responsible investing efforts including drafting and oversight of its policies and procedures. She also successfully advocated for CRM to become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2017 and the firm’s formal exclusion of tobacco from its investment portfolios in 2019.
Clare Payne – AdvisorAdvisor
Clare advises businesses and leaders on ethics, good governance and trust. She is a former employment lawyer who managed the integrity office of Macquarie Bank and founded The Banking and Finance Oath, a Hippocratic-type oath for those in finance. Prior to the global financial crisis, Clare’s paper titled, ‘Ethics or Bust’ was awarded the inaugural Ethics & Trust in Finance Prize by the Observatoire de la Finance, Geneva. Clare then went on to co-author, A Matter of Trust - The Practice of Ethics in Finance (2018).
Lisa Nicolaou – Executive AssistantExecutive Assistant
Lisa has extensive administrative skills and experience, primarily in travel, tourism and public health in both Australia and the UK. Lisa first worked with Dr King over a decade ago, at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, where she supported the Radiation Oncology specialists. Lisa clearly remembers the day in 2010 when Dr King had ‘the conversation’ with her superannuation fund and discovered that she was unwittingly investing her money in tobacco.
Allison Biggin – Operations ManagerOperations Manager
Allison has extensive experience across various industries in the areas of governance, process improvement, information technology, project and change management. She spent a large portion of her career within the financial services industry in various operations roles covering Customer Relationship Management, Digital and Contact Centre.
Patricio V. Marquez – Pledge Champion – USA/AmericasPledge Champion - USA/Americas
Patricio is a former World Bank Group (WBG) Lead Public Health Specialist. He retired in August 2019 after 32 years of service, where he worked in over 80 countries across the world, and led the Global Tobacco Taxation Program and the Global Mental Health Initiative. In March 2020, he returned to the WBG as Consultant to support the preparation and implementation of the US$6 billion COVID-19 Global Emergency Response Program in the health sector and the implementation of the US$20 billion Additional Financing for COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination across the world, and was the co-author of the “Better Together: A Mental Health and Well-being Strategy for the World Bank Group”, which was launched in May 2022.
Our vision is for a world free from tobacco.
Our mission is to inform, prioritise and advance tobacco-free finance.
Tobacco has been the single worst-performing sector in 2018 in capital terms, excluding dividends, out of the 39 industry groupings that form the FTSE All-Share
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 deaths
Every year around 78,000 people in the UK die from smoking, with many more living with debilitating smoking-related illnesses. Smoking increases the risk of developing more than 50 serious health conditions.
Board members
Global Advisory Council
Leaders in finance, health, government and philanthropy support Tobacco Free Portfolios through our Global Advisory Council.
News
Dr Bronwyn King Speaks at TEDxSydney
Tobacco causes more than eight million deaths every year — and many of us are far more complicit in the problem than we realise. In a bold talk, oncologist Dr. Bronwyn King AO tells the story of how she uncovered the deep ties between the tobacco industry and the entire global finance sector, which invests our money in cigarette companies through big banks, insurers and pension funds.
Tobacco-Free Finance Celebration
Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, Dr Bronwyn King, Clare Payne and Dr Rachel Melsom, together with CEOs and Chairs of dozens of Australian pension funds and fund managers celebrated the progress to date in the transition to tobacco-free finance. AU$1.3 Trillion of Australians’ superannuation savings were invested under tobacco-free policies as of October 2018.
Colonial First State Quits Tobacco
Tobacco is the world’s leading cause of preventable death – and overwhelmingly, our customers don’t want it in their options. That’s why we’re divesting from tobacco companies.
Why people should consider not investing in the tobacco industry
Dr. Bronwyn King, Founder and CEO at Tobacco Free Portfolios, and Maxime Carmignac, Managing Director Carmignac Gestion Luxembourg – UK Branch, explain what the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge is, what supporting this initiative means, and why investors should favour divestment for this sector.
Alecta Announced Tobacco-Free Position: USD 90B
As a long-term investor, Alecta said its investments need to be focused on companies that are well-managed and have a business model with a long sustainability date.
UK’s Largest Private Pension Fund to Exit Tobacco
The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which oversees more than 68 billion pounds (USD 84 billion) of assets, will begin selling its holdings in these industries within two years and will exclude any further investment, according to a statement on Monday from USS’s main investment manager and adviser.
A World Without Tobacco Post Pandemic – 2021 Webinar
Tobacco Free Portfolios was pleased to host a webinar in March, 2021, alongside global thought leaders from American Cancer Society, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Truth Initiative, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and The Center for Black Health & Equity to showcase the broad cross section of major tobacco control initiatives. The panel of speakers…
Canada’s second largest pension plan signs The Pledge
Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has made the decision to withdraw from the tobacco industry. Tobacco is a public health issue that has serious consequences on the environment and on society, and we believe it is not an activity that is sustainable over the long term.
CalPERS made $856M through its tobacco exclusion
Californian public pension giant CalPERS has made $856m through its exclusion of tobacco since 2017, amounting to about 0.2% of the $389bn fund’s current assets, according to the latest analysis by investment consultant Wilshire Associates.
Thanks to our Sponsors and Partners
Sincere thanks to the organisations and foundations listed below, as well as many individuals and families whose generous donations support our work.
Honour Roll
Sincere thanks to the organisations and foundations listed below, as well as many individuals and families whose generous donations have supported our work in the past.
Memberships
Tobacco Free Portfolios is delighted to be a member of the following organisations.
Suppliers / Pro Bono Work
Sincere thanks to our suppliers and generous pro bono contributors for their continued support.
