12 November 2019;
Dutch Bank ASN and ASN investment funds no longer invest money from customers in companies that produce alcoholic beverages (brewers, winemakers and producers of other alcoholic beverages). The shares and loans from ASN are now alcohol-free.
ASN also does not invest anymore into retail stores selling drinks, at least if the alcohol turnover exceeds 10% of the total turnover.
The new alcohol policy applies to ASN Bank and ASN Investment Funds and furthermore to BLG Wonen, RegioBank and SNS, in short: the other brands of the Volksbank.
The tightened policy is in line with ASN Bank and ASN Investment Funds’ starting point: investments must contribute to a sustainable, fair society. Earlier ASN decided not to invest money in the tobacco industry and to remove Heineken from its sustainable equity fund. The reason to remove Heineken from that fund was Heineken’s practice to use beer promotion girls in Africa.
With a view to this policy change, ASN Investment Funds recently sold its investments in French beverage producer Pernod Ricard.
Source (in Dutch): asnbank.nl.