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CAISSE DE DÉPÔT JOINS WAVE OF TOBACCO INDUSTRY EXITS.

MONTREAL • Tobacco is out at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

The province's biggest institutional investor said it has sold all its shares of cigarette producers, tobacco-product makers and vaping-product manufacturers as of last month.

The move allows the Caisse to join the Tobacco Free Portfolios coalition — a group “whose mission is to inform investors of tobacco's impact, as well as prioritize and advance tobacco-free finance” — and sign a document called the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. Some 160 financial institutions in 21 countries, representing a combined US$11.4 trillion in assets under management, now back the initiative.

The Caisse joins a growing roster of global investors that have decided to shun cigarette stocks as part of an increased emphasis on socially responsible investing. They include French insurance giant Axa, Australian financial services company Westpac and Quebec financial co-operative Mouvement Desjardins. Smaller investors such as the UQAM Foundation have also made a similar choice.

Last week, The Logic reported that the Canada Pension Plan Investments had sold all of its shares in U.S. tobacco giant Altria Group, according to U.S. securities filings.

“Our withdrawal from the tobacco sector is consistent with our sustainable investment approach, which aims to always improve the environmental and social performance of our portfolio,” Caisse chief executive officer Charles Emond said in a statement. As of June, the Caisse's net assets stood at $333 billion.

Tobacco stocks made up a tiny portion of the Caisse's overall portfolio as of the end of 2019, the latest data available. Investments at the end of 2019 included about $320 million worth of shares of cigarette makers