Hackney Greens challenged over pension fund divestment pledge

Hackney's Green party has been challenged over its pledge to divest the council's pension fund from companies allegedly supporting genocide. Council officers have flagged a risk that the Green-led pensions committee could prioritise the party's manifesto over its legal duties. The administration, which took control of the council in May, has begun altering the council's pension pot investments following campaign promises for "full ethical divestment" from companies "complicit in territorial human rights violations."

Before her election, Hackney's mayor, Zoë Garbett, stated that "People don’t want their money invested in firms like Elbit and Palantir, pension funds could be used to invest in housing, to help people locally instead." Both Elbit and Palantir have been accused by Amnesty International of complicity in Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, including genocide.

Questions over specific divestments

At a pensions committee meeting on Tuesday 22 September, former Labour councillor Vincent Stops questioned the council's actions. Using a Green party campaign leaflet, Stops stated that the Greens had previously demanded "divest now" and called for £30 million to be divested from companies "directly involved in Israel’s genocide." He asked the committee to list these companies and the investment values to be divested.

The committee's chair, Izzy Castello-Cortes, said the council would provide details of specific holdings in writing later. An actions log updated on 21 September indicated that information on the fund's holdings, obtained from the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV), had been provided and would be given to the chair. When pressed by Stops on whether any divestments had yet occurred, Cllr Castello-Cortes stated that "big steps" had been taken in looking into the matter but could not preempt the findings of the Responsible Investment Working Group.

Speaking after the meeting, Stops commented that the Greens appeared to be "backtracking from their demands for immediate divestment now." He had previously urged the mayor to "apologise to Labour councillors accused of supporting genocide in their squalid campaign."

Disputed investment figures

The amount of money Hackney has invested in firms linked to alleged human rights abuses, war crimes, and genocide is a subject of dispute. In 2024, the council reported its pension fund was worth approximately £1.994 billion, now standing at about £2.4 billion. At that time, it stated that roughly 0.2 per cent was "indirectly" exposed, primarily through equity portfolios, to firms listed by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as operating in the occupied Palestinian territories. The council has provided varying figures, ranging from £1.9 million to £3.5 million.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has presented a significantly higher figure, claiming approximately £106 million of Hackney's pension is invested in "companies complicit in Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian human rights." This figure is based on an analysis of 81 Local Government Pension Scheme funds. The PSC had previously stated this amount to be £30 million. The Green party's "Divest Now" campaign leaflet mentioned Hackney Council invests "over £30m" in companies "directly involved in Israel’s genocide," though it did not attribute this figure to the PSC. The £30 million figure was not included in the Green party's manifesto, which instead pledged to "initiate a full ethical divestment process from companies complicit in genocide, apartheid or ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the West Bank, and other occupied Palestinian territories, as well as in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and other regions facing genocide, conflict and exploitation."

Background on pooled investments

In 2024, Kam Adams, the then chair of the committee, explained that the fund did not invest in individual companies but held assets in "pooled" funds managed externally. The then Labour-run council also stated that moving to a "highly customised" alternative fund would incur costs exceeding £2.1 million in the first year and over £10 million across five years, potentially breaching Law Commission guidance and risking financial detriment to the fund. However, in September 2025, the council indicated it would "engage with" the London Collective Investment Vehicle to establish a framework for future exclusions of investments linked to conflict, military occupation, or genocide. The then mayor, Caroline Woodley, also committed to incorporating the UN Genocide Convention into Hackney’s investment framework.

The London Collective Investment Vehicle manages pooled pension investments for London councils, with each council retaining control over its fund's strategy. The LCIV states it must remain neutral unless directed by the UK government, for instance, regarding sanctions. Recent reforms require a "critical mass" of member funds before implementing ethical exclusions.

New statutory guidance

Hackney's pensions committee agreed on 24 June to review its responsible investment strategy and develop future exclusion criteria. However, Cllr Castello-Cortes noted that statutory guidance published on 29 June ruled out excluding specific named companies. Instead, the council is exploring a policy using a series of lists and highlighting core beliefs deemed in the interest of pension scheme members. Committee papers further state that under the guidance, pension funds "should not set exclusions relating to individual companies, countries or investment styles, as decisions to buy, hold or sell individual investments now rest with the Pool." A draft stewardship statement presented to the committee suggests that "engagement is generally a more effective mechanism for influencing corporate behaviour and delivering real-world outcomes than exclusion or divestment alone," and that implementing the fund’s human rights priorities is now the responsibility of the investment Pool.