CAAT Campaigns - Clean Investment: Universities

Does your university invest in arms companies?

Forty-five universities and colleges in the UK are known to hold shares in arms companies, often without the knowledge or approval of the students, staff and beneficiaries. The 2006/7 University Clean Investment Campaign aims to alert students and staff to the investment decisions which are being made on their behalf by the financial officers of their colleges and universities, giving them the tools so that they can hold them to account, and help break the links between arms companies and higher education. Check on your university here!

To campaign for change we now need your help, and that of your fellow students and colleagues. We have put together resources including a timeline of how Manchester University Students successfully campaigned for divestment, a draft ethical investment policy framework and a list of Frequently Asked Questions. We've also provided links that include further information on how to draft resolutions for your student union and proof that ethical investments are fiscally viable!

The shareholdings

Since the beginning of 2005 we have conducted extensive research into universities and their investments in the arms trade. In 2006/7 we are focusing on thirteen companies, seven of which are UK based and in the top 100 arms companies worldwide. These companies are BAE Systems - the UK's dominant arms exporting company - Cobham, GKN, QinetiQ, Rolls Royce, Smiths Group* and VT Group. We also include, for the first time, university shareholdings in six US arms companies - General Dynamics, General Electric, Halliburton, L3 Communications, Northrup Grumman and Raytheon.

Out of the 199 colleges and universities that we contacted, 45 confirmed, in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, that they hold investments in the arms trade. Where the institution holds shares directly in the arms companies, they have provided us with the market value or number of shares.

Although 81 universities replied indicating that they owned no shares in any of the thirteen companies, only a very small number of these have confirmed to us that they have an ethical investment policy that excludes arms companies.

The current financial policy of the remaining 73 universities is still unclear. Some of them have simply not yet responded to our enquiries regarding their current investments, whilst some have only recently been added to our database and not yet been contacted. Others may hold shares indirectly as part of a managed fund(s) but we haven't yet been able to find out whether the fund(s) contain arms companies. Full details of the results.

*In May 2007 Smiths Group completed the sale of its aerospace business, containing the bulk of its military-related production, to General Electric.

Campaign Against Arms Trade, 11 Goodwin St, Finsbury Park, London N4 3HQ
Tel: +44-(0)20 7281 0297 | Fax: +44-(0)20 7281 4369