Download Our Toolkit
Tobacco Free Portfolios is a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to inform, prioritise and advance tobacco-free finance. We aim to disentangle the global finance sector from tobacco.
Our strategy is to engage with key leaders and influencers across the finance sector. We inform finance leaders about global tobacco control initiatives and the future risks of tobacco investment, and we encourage tobacco-free finance and investment mandates.
Our approach is one of advocacy and education. We pride ourselves on discretion and do not seek to accuse or ‘name and shame’ trustees, investors or the finance industry. Instead, we work collaboratively and professionally, so that the industry and its investors can make well-informed decisions.
Our work, including detailed information on tobacco-free finance, is explained in our Toolkit. Please download a copy here:
Tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year. More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 890 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
How You Can Make A Difference
Through pension schemes, Sovereign Wealth funds, banks and insurers, many are still unknowingly contributing to what the World Health Organisation has described as the ‘global tobacco epidemic’. This means that people are unknowingly contributing to the world’s number one cause of preventable death.
Financial support of the tobacco industry stands in sharp contrast to global tobacco control initiatives, increased community awareness of the dangers of smoking and the on-going decline of tobacco smoking in developed countries.
You can make a difference by ensuring your finances are tobacco-free. You can write to your pension fund, bank or insurer and ask about their approach to tobacco.
Here’s a sample letter to use:
Globally the annual cost of tobacco is estimated at US $ 1 Trillion, global tax revenues are estimated to be US$269 Billion.
Verified Tobacco-Free
With increased public interest in tobacco-free investment, a number of financial organisations have expressed interest in promoting their tobacco-free status to their members, customers and the community. Others across finance, health and government have expressed interest in supporting Tobacco Free Portfolios so that we can continue to prioritise tobacco-free investment on the corporate agenda and accelerate global tobacco control.
As a result, Tobacco Free Portfolios launched ‘Verified Tobacco-Free’ in 2018. Verified Tobacco-Free aims to publicly promote the tobacco-free status of financial organisations and products, allowing the community to make informed decisions about their investments and for financial organisations to attract customers based on their tobacco-free status.
Financial organisations are invited to purchase the Verified Tobacco-Free symbol and participate in the program.
For more information on Verified Tobacco-Free please contact us directly.
In some countries, children from poor households are frequently employed in tobacco farming to provide family income. These children are especially vulnerable to "green tobacco sickness", which is caused by the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin from the handling of wet tobacco leaves.
Our Progress
By working collaboratively with the world’s largest financial organisations, we have seen a dramatic shift in recent years with more than 80 leading financial organisations from more than 10 countries implementing tobacco-free finance policies – spanning lending, investment and insurance.
Recent tobacco-free decisions are in chronological order below.
Dr Bronwyn King, Dr Vera Louiza da Costa e Silva, Head of the Convention Secretariat of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Ms Clare Payne and Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, Global Ambassador for Tobacco Free Portfolios.
Insurers
- AXA: May 2016 – announced 1.8B Euro of tobacco industry assets divestment
- Medibank: Largest Australian health insurer - September 2016
- SCOR: French reinsurer - May 2017
- AVIVA: Largest UK insurer - June 2017
- Aegon: Global Insurer – March 2018
Pension funds
- AP4: Swedish pension fund - September 2016
- CalPERS: USA Pension fund - December 2016 (tobacco-free policy extended to external fund managers)
- Australia Post Super Scheme: Australian pension fund - March 2017
- PME: Dutch pension fund - May 2017
- Australian Catholic Super: Australian pension fund - May 2017
- PME: Dutch Pension fund – April 2017
- PGB: Dutch pension fund - October 2017
- Telstra Super: Australian pension fund - October 2017
- OP Trust: Canadian pension fund - October 2017
- BT Super: Australian pension fund - November 2017
- Asgard Super: Australian pension fund - November 2017
- Guild Super: Australian pension fund - November 2017
- Child Care Super: Australian pension fund - November 2017
- Australian Super: Australian pension fund - December 2017
- Teachers Pension Fund (Lærernes): Danish – December 2017
- PenSam: Danish Pension Fund - December 2017
- ABP: Dutch pension fund - January 2018
- Ircantec: French pension fund - January 2018
- PWRI: Dutch Pension Fund – January 2017
- Mercer: Australian pension fund and wealth manager - February 2018
- Qantas Super: Australian Pension Fund – March 2018
- TNO: Dutch Pension Fund – March 2017
Sovereign Wealth Funds
- Fonds de Reserve pour les Retraites: France - December 2016
- Irish Sovereign Investment Fund: December 2016 (note that the NZ Superannuation Scheme went tobacco-free in 2006, the Norwegian Oil Fund in 2009 and the Australian Future Fund in 2013)
Banking
- ANZ – NZ branch: ceased investing in tobacco in 2016
- Bank of New Zealand: ceased lending to and investing in tobacco in March 2017
- ABN-AMRO: ceased lending to tobacco in May 201
- Westpac bank: ceased lending to tobacco in 2007 and extended tobacco-free policy across wealth management (BT Financial Group) in November 2017
- BNP Paribas: ceased lending to, investment in and insurance of tobacco in November 2017, March 2018 announced that BNP Asset Management would implement a tobacco-free policy
- Natixis: ceased lending to and investing in tobacco in December 2017
- ING: announced withdrawal from lending and ceasing investing – April 2017
- NB: Rabobank has not offered credit to tobacco companies for some years
Asset managers
- Actiam
- Achmea
- AMP Capital: March 2017
- Alm Brand (Invest, Asset Management, Pension): Denmark: 2017
- Robeco: March 2018