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Supervisors ask SF retirement board to consider divesting ~$26 million in Russian securities over anti‑LGBT laws
Summary
After presentations by LGBT advocates, the Board’s Government & Audit Oversight Committee asked the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System to evaluate whether it can divest roughly $26 million in Russian securities consistent with its fiduciary duties; SFERS staff said formal analysis requires a Retirement Board directive.
San Francisco supervisors pressed the city’s retirement system on Tuesday to examine whether it can pull roughly $26 million in Russian securities after a panel of LGBT and human‑rights advocates described laws and violence targeting gay people in Russia.
Supervisor Scott Wiener opened the hearing by outlining recent Russian measures he called harmful to LGBT people, and by noting he had previously asked SFERS staff to analyze the feasibility of divesting. Wiener said an October response from SFERS reported about $37 million in holdings; SFERS Executive Director Jay Huish told the committee those holdings have since fallen to just over $26 million.
“Those holdings have been reduced from $37,000,000 down to just over $26,000,000,” Huish said, adding the securities were placed by discretionary managers and that SFERS follows a social‑investment policy. Huish told supervisors the policy requires a member of the Retirement Board to direct staff to conduct a divestment analysis; without that request the board will not initiate the formal due diligence.
Advocates told the committee the city should push SFERS to act. Amy Whelan, senior staff attorney at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, described escalating attacks, arrests and legal restrictions in Russia and urged the city to send a moral message by pulling investments. Julie Dorff of the Council for Global Equality said new “foreign agents” rules and other laws are closing civil‑society space and increasing the danger for LGBT families. Gary Virginia, president of the board of San Francisco Pride, urged solidarity and cited a state senate resolution urging CalPERS and CalSTRS to avoid new investments in Russia.
Supervisors emphasized the small size of the exposure relative to the fund: Wiener and others noted the $26 million figure represents roughly 0.13%–0.15% of a $19 billion‑plus fund. Wiener said the percentage is small but the dollar amount is meaningful and that the political message of divestment also matters.
Huish and supervisors agreed on process: SFERS staff will report that the request remains pending and that a Retirement Board member — the city’s Retirement Board designee or another trustee — must ask the Retirement Board to calendar the matter for staff analysis. Wiener said he will continue discussions with Supervisor Norman Yee (the board’s SFERS representative) and other trustees to secure that formal request.
The committee voted to continue the item to the call of the chair pending further action by the Retirement Board. No public speakers addressed the item during the committee’s public comment period.
What happens next: Supervisors asked SFERS to keep the matter in front of the Retirement Board and directed staff to provide any additional information requested. The committee will revisit the matter if the Retirement Board asks staff to perform the required divestment analysis.
