Shares in the arms and tobacco industry

The request was successful.

Dear University College, Oxford,

I am writing to request information on the financial relationships the college holds with the arms and tobacco trade (specifically, but not limited to:

- BAE Systems
- Rolls-Royce
- Smiths Group
- Cobham
- Elbit
- Finmeccanica
- GKN
- QinetiQ
- VT Group
- Halliburton,
- United Technologies
- Airbus SE
- Lockheed Martin
- Caterpillar Inc,
- General Dynamics
- Raytheon
- Northrop Grumman
- Raytheon, Textron and Thales Group
- L3 communications

- Philip Morris
- British American Tobacco
- Altria
- Imperial Brands

Please include the following information:

1) A portfolio statement for the fund(s) the college has investments in. If you do not have a copy of this, please send me a list of the names of the fund(s) and the corresponding management companies. Details should be broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

2) Please also confirm if any shares are held in arms trade companies as part of a pension fund or endowment, either directly or indirectly through an externally managed fund. Details should be broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

I would wholeheartedly encourage the university to adopt an ethical investment policy that excludes the arms trade, and would appreciate it if you could tell me if this is something that the university is working towards.

Yours faithfully,

Sarah Woolley

Freedom of Information, University College, Oxford

Dear Sarah,

University College does not believe it holds any of its endowed assets in those businesses you have listed. We are mindful of the high expectations of our current students and Old Members in our financial relations, and subscribe to your concerns over the arms trade.

However, our Investment Bursar is on long term sick leave and we have yet to complete the necessary checks to create the unambiguous assurance that an Freedom of Information request demands. May we ask for some more time to respond to your query, which we can assure you we are taking seriously?

Many thanks and best wishes,

Ian

Ian Boutle
Academic Registrar
University College, Oxford, OX1 4BH
T +44 (0)1865 276959
www.univ.ox.ac.uk

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Dear Freedom of Information,

No problem, thanks for letting me know. Wishing your colleague well.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Woolley

Freedom of Information, University College, Oxford

1 Attachment

Dear Sarah,

Please accept our gratitude for your patience as we responded to your request - these have been challenging times as I am sure that you appreciate. In response to your queries:

1) A portfolio statement for the fund(s) the college has investments in. If you do not have a copy of this, please send me a list of the names of the fund(s) and the corresponding management companies. Details should be broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

The College's securities and equities holdings are held in listed funds and a workbook of their listings by year is enclosed. As the College is a public interest entity by virtue of its listed public bond, it is not able to share valuations at this time until 2019/20 financial year accounts are published. However, as I imagine that you are concerned to understand any holding whatsoever in the companies that you have identified, the quantum of the holding is of less interest. The worksheets are labelled by year and according to the College's internal classification: Trust Pool (TP) and our corporate holding or Non-Trust Pool (NTP).

2) Please also confirm if any shares are held in arms trade companies as part of a pension fund or endowment, either directly or indirectly through an externally managed fund. Details should be broken down, year-by-year for the last five financial years.

The holdings recorded comprise the College's endowed assets. The College's pension fund holdings for the academic and salaried staff (the Universities Superannuation Scheme) and for waged staff (OSPS) are subject to independent trusteeship and you will have to direct your enquiries accordingly. The College does not hold any pension assets independent of these schemes.

Best regards

University College

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