Campaign Template Letters
Letter writing will be the first step of action in a campaign for divestment. Below, we have provided an outline of a letter you can send to the financial decision makers at your university, relevant to the various stages of a campaign. Any request for information is now treated as being covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, so you don't have to specifically mention this unless you feel it is necessary. Remember, the more people you can get to write letters and send emails, the louder your voice will be and all the harder to ignore! When you receive a response, keep up the correspondence - whether you are asking for disinvestment or the adoption of an ethical investment policy, keep up the pressure until you succeed. If you need any assistance please don't hesitate to contact us.
It is important firstly to confirm the shareholding figures. If there have been changes to the 2006 figures we published (check the 2006 university shareholding figures here), please do let us know.
Below is an outline of a letter you could adapt and send to your financial director - either by post or email - please forward any response you receive to us, so that we know how your campaign is going.
Example letter to university requesting shareholding figures
Dear
I am writing to request information on the investments our university holds in the arms trade (specifically BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, GKN, Smiths Group, Cobham, VT Group, General Dynamics, General Electric, Halliburton, L3 Communications, Northrup Grumman and Raytheon). Please send me a portfolio statement for the fund(s) our university has investments in. If you do not have a copy of this, please send me a list of the names of the fund(s) and the corresponding management companies. If the university's investments are held in a pooled fund or a variety of these funds please could you provide me with recent, dated, lists of the underlying shares that the fund(s) invests in. Please also confirm if any shares are held in the above companies as part of a pension fund or endowment, either directly or indirectly through an externally managed fund.
I would wholeheartedly encourage the university to adopt an ethical investment policy that excludes the arms trade, and would appreciate it if you could tell me if this is something that the university is planning to do.
Yours sincerely,
Has your university confirmed that it does hold shares with any of these companies? If so, then below is an outline of a letter you could adapt and send to your financial director - either by post or by email - again, please forward any response you receive to us, so that we know how your campaign is going.
Example letter to university with confirmed shares
Dear
It was recently confirmed to me that our university holds investments in the arms trade. I am particularly concerned about these investments because the UK arms industry exports billions of pounds worth of weapons every year, many of these to regimes with poor human rights records, to areas of conflict or to countries with huge development needs. The arms trade fuels war, undermines development and breeds corruption and is far from an ordinary, everyday business. Our university should not hold shares in the arms trade - it is inappropriate for an institution run for the public good to have any links to this deadly business.
I would wholeheartedly encourage the university to adopt an ethical investment policy that excludes the arms trade, and would appreciate it if you could tell me if this is something that the university is planning to do.
Yours sincerely,
Has your university confirmed that it holds no investments in the arms trade, yet that it has not adopted an ethical investment policy? Below is a letter you could adapt and send to your finance director.
Example letter to university with no shares but no ethical investment policy
Dear
It was recently confirmed to me that our university holds no shares in the arms trade. I would like to wholeheartedly congratulate our board of financial officers on the decision not to invest in the companies involved in this industry.
I would fully support our university having an ethical investment policy that excludes investments in the arms trade. Could you please confirm to me whether this is something the university is planning to do?
Yours sincerely,