The largest pension fund in the Netherlands, ABP, has sold all of its liquid investments in fossil fuel producers, totalling around €10bn, it has revealed.

In the first quarter of 2024, ABP sold all its liquid equity and bond investments in fossil fuels, as well as its futures contracts in oil and gas.

The pension fund had €4.8bn of illiquid investments in fossil fuels at the end of March 2024, which it has committed to selling “in the near future”.

Around two and a half years ago, ABP decided to reduce its fossil fuel investments, with the last equities and bonds being sold in the first three months of this year, while its investments in oil and gas futures contracts were also sold in the first half of 2024.

“It is important for ABP as a long-term investor to manage the transition risks in our investment portfolio,” the pension fund stated.

“ABP sees climate and biodiversity as the most important themes on which society and the economy are changing. This creates risks and opportunities in the investment portfolio.

“Companies where damage to the climate or biodiversity is inextricably linked to their business activity and where there is no prospect of improvement are not suitable for ABP. Discussions with fossil fuel producers to achieve improvements have proven to be insufficiently effective.”

ABP said that the return on these investments was easily replaceable, as investments in oil and gas producers had not performed exceptionally over the past 10 years.

The money generated from the sale of its fossil fuel assets has been reinvested in ‘attractive investments’ that fit with ABP’s investment policy.

“What remains are the illiquid investments,” ABP noted. “These are investments in unlisted companies and funds such as private equity or hedge funds.

“It also concerns investments in (fossil) infrastructure. These investments have a specific term. We sell them as soon as we can and it works out well for the participants.”

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