The nation’s largest teacher-pension fund took the first step last week toward divesting from companies that make guns and high-capacity ammunition magazines that are illegal in California.
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System’s investment committee unanimously approved a motion Jan. 9 to begin the divestment process. Pension-fund officials determined that the fund has investments in a firm that owns the manufacturer of an assault weapon used at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month. The pension fund also owns shares of two publicly traded gun makers.
The investments make up a tiny fraction of the pension system’s holdings, about $11.7 million out of the $155 billion fund, according to its staff.
