Nordea AM Drops JBS Over Deforestation, Corruption, Worker Health
July 28 2020 - 7:36AM
Dow Jones News
By Dieter Holger
Nordea Asset Management dropped Brazilian meat giant JBS SA from
all its funds this month over concerns stemming from the company's
handling of deforestation, corruption charges and employee health
and safety amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Helsinki, Finland-based money manager made the decision
"after a period of engagement with the company, where we did not
feel that we were seeing the response that we were looking for,"
Eric Pedersen, head of responsible investments at Nordea Asset
Management, told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
Mr. Pedersen said that the investment firm, which has some 223
billion euros ($261.8 billion) under management, pulled around
EUR40 million from JBS following a separate decision last year to
not buy more into the company.
The move comes as JBS continues to face allegations of fueling
deforestation by purchasing cattle from protected lands in the
Amazon rainforest. In June, nonprofit Greenpeace said that
JBS--along with other Brazilian meat producers--had bought cattle
from a farm that sourced the animals from another ranch in a
protected reserve in the Mato Grosso region.
Under Brazilian law, meatpackers must ensure that they slaughter
cattle coming from ranches with a clean environmental record, but
it is difficult for companies to guarantee there hasn't been so
called "cattle laundering" where cows spend time in illegal
pastures before moving to legal ones.
JBS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Pedersen said the decision to exclude JBS is significant
because it changes the holdings of all of the firm's funds instead
of just those dedicated to sustainability.
"While our specifically [environmental, social and
governance]-focused funds would in any case avoid companies with
these types of exposure, this move is part of raising the bar for
our remaining funds, so that our wider client base can remain
comfortable with the level of sustainability risk in their
investments," he said, adding that specific ESG portfolios
currently make up around 30% of the firm's managed investments.
--Paulo Trevisani contributed to this article.
Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@wsj.com;
@dieterholger
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 28, 2020 08:21 ET (12:21 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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