Treasurer Wooden divests Connecticut’s pension funds of Russian assets
State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden has announced that he is divesting Connecticut”™s state pension funds of all Russian-owned assets.
Wooden”™s office is the sole trustee of the state”™s retirement funds, known collectively as the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds (CRPTF). The total CRPTF holdings are valued at more than $47 billion and its Russia-domiciled investments are worth more than $218 million in equity and fixed income.
“The Ukrainian people are experiencing an assault on their freedom and suffering devastating human loss due to an unprovoked and unjustified attack by the Russian government,” Wooden said. “The world”™s condemnation is clear, and economic sanctions have paralyzed the Russian economy. We cannot stand idly by as the humanitarian crisis unfolds and Russian markets crumble, and I cannot continue to invest these pension funds in a way that runs counter to the foreign policy and national interests of the United States.
“Eliminating our holdings of Russian assets is not only a moral imperative but the current crisis also constitutes a substantial risk for Connecticut”™s investments, our national policy and economic security,” Wooden added. “Connecticut”™s action today will apply further economic pain on a dangerous autocrat who needs to know that the free world stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and that Putin”™s abhorrent actions will have enduring, harrowing economic consequences in the days, months, and years ahead.”