Dive Summary:
- New York City officials announced Friday that the city's $46.6 billion pension fund for teachers sold its stock in companies that manufacture guns and ammunition, which it had been reconsidering since the Dec. 14 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
- City Comptroller John Liu said the divestment was the "right thing to do" and that the investment portfolio gained nothing by including companies "whose products can destroy lives and shatter communities in the blink of an eye."
- Gun industry holdings have been under review by pension funds for teachers and public workers since the Sandy Hook tragedy, but the New York City Teachers' Retirement System--which affects over 183,000 members, retirees and others--is the largest pension fund to sell its holdings so far.
From the article:
NEW YORK (AP) — The $46.6 billion pension fund for New York City schoolteachers has sold its stock in companies that make guns and ammunition, city officials announced Friday. City Comptroller John Liu said the Dec. 14 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., prompted the fund's board of trustees to review the system's investments in the gun industry. ...
