Baillie Gifford argue that the accusations levied against their investments are misleading. They point out that their two per cent investment in the petrochemical industry is far below the industry average, which is five to 11 per cent. Mundy, who as a member of the Baillie Gifford Prize board regularly carries out due-diligence checks, suggests that Baillie Gifford also “invest much more than that in companies working in clean energy”.
Moreover, Baillie Gifford argue that, while they do invest in Amazon and the technology company Nvidia, who both have business dealings in Israel, “practically every consumer in the developed world is using the services of these companies”. They also acknowledge that they have “small investments” in Airbnb, Booking.com and Cemex, identified by Fossil Fuel Books as having business interests in the Occupied Territories, but say that they are “committed to responsibly analysing and engaging with the companies” in which they invest. “We are a private business managing other people’s money, not our own,” they add. “Our clients set the parameters and determine what to exclude or divest. We are not able to make exclusions of that nature based on our own ethical judgements, or in response to pressure from outside groups.”
On this, Blakeley, a former economics commentator for The New Statesman, disagrees. “Climate activists around the world have been pushing for divestment from their pension funds and their universities’ endowment funds, particularly in the US, and plenty of companies have already begun to divest,” she argues.
“There are now many ethical foundations, co-ops and corporations who commit themselves to very high standards when it comes to these things, and which are listed on websites such as Fossilfreefunds.org. It’s an absolutely booming market. There’s not a dearth of money out there, particularly when it comes to the arts.”