Norway’s $1.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund will not invest directly or indirectly in four Canadian cannabis stocks because they produce recreational marijuana that remains illegal within its borders.
Fund manager Norges Bank Investment Management announced that Canada-based Aurora Cannabis ACBCanopy Growth Corp C.G.CCronos group CRON and Tilray TLRY is locked out of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).
What happened
The Norwegian GPFG Ethics Council recommended excluding Canadian companies from fund investments because they are involved in the production of recreational cannabis.
“Cannabis is a narcotic drug whose manufacture and sale is illegal in Norway, and Norway has ratified the International Drug Control Conventions,” according to a report by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance. “This reflects a core value on which there is broad consensus among the population and which suggests that the production and sale of recreational cannabis should be included as a new criterion for excluding companies from the law [fund].”
The fund according to Market Watchdoes not hold shares directly in the companies, but they are included in the fund’s benchmark index.
Hit Canadian Cannabis
Norges Bank’s move is the latest blow to Canadian companies, whose share prices have plummeted in recent years and are losing billions of dollars. noted MJ BizDaily.
Not the first time and not just cannabis
It’s not the first time Norway has shyed away from cannabis stocks, MJBiz reported. In 2019, the sovereign wealth fund said it would “no longer own stakes” in some cannabis companies, although cannabis companies have slowly been added to some large funds in recent years.
Norges Bank also excluded Tobacco producers and companies it says “contribute to serious environmental damage” like energy companies and a Korean metals and mining company…
