Statement on Ukraine

The Tyne and Wear Pension Fund is deeply saddened by the tragic events unfolding in Ukraine and our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people.

The Pension Fund is a very large financial institution with more than £12 billion invested in a diverse range of assets across the globe. Whilst the Fund has no direct exposure to Russia it does have some indirect exposure through investments in pooled investment vehicles.  This exposure is relatively small, and represented 0.23% of the total Fund prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This exposure will have reduced since the invasion.

The Fund is working with its investment managers with a view to exiting these positions. At the current time, however, this is not possible due to global sanctions and the closure of local stock markets. The position will be kept under review.

Tyne and Wear Pension Fund is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme, which is a statutory public sector scheme and as such members benefits are protected by regulations and are not dependent on investment performance.