Concordia University discloses full $454 million investment portfolio
Investments include BlackRock, Boeing and Murphy Oil
After two years of student pressure, Concordia University’s Inter-Generational Fund (CUiF) released its full public holdings.
Included in its large portfolio are investments in Boeing, BlackRock and Murphy Oil despite its aim transition to 100 per cent sustainability investment rating.
Boeing and BlackRock
The CUiF has $166,518 worth of investments in the American investment company BlackRock.
On a number of occasions, BlackRock has been accused of complicity in the Palestinian genocide. BlackRock holds major investments in Israel and in companies such as Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and General Dynamics. BlackRock is profiting from the war in Gaza and supporting Israel's settler colonial project in Palestine, and owns US$7.9 billion of Lockheed Martin stock.
Apart from their investments in weapons, BlackRock manages a collection of exchange-traded funds and index mutual funds under the name iShares ETF.
One of the companies that iShares ETF invests in is Elbit Systems—a defence contractor known for manufacturing surveillance systems, drones and other military technology. It's one of Israel’s leading weapons manufacturers and has supplied equipment used in Gaza’s genocide.
The CUiF has $149,820 worth of investments in Boeing.
Boeing is another company which has been accused of profiting from Gaza’s genocide. As one of the world’s biggest weapons manufacturers, Boeing produces a number of war jets and other military equipment, which Israel has used to attack the Palestinian territories.
Murphy Oil
The CUiF has $63,560 worth of investments in Murphy Oil.
Murphy Oil has been the subject of a number of scandals. Most prominently, a spill from one of the company's oil storage tanks in Louisiana, USA, in 2008 led to a US$330 million settlement with plaintiffs. It was coined as the worst environmental disaster during Hurricane Katrina.
Additionally, according to Canada’s National Observer, Murphy Oil was fined $172,500 in 2017 following an Alberta pipeline spill that went undetected for 45 days.
Concordia’s investments and profits
Including the three above-listed companies, the university has investments in over 1,860 companies, including Airbnb, Nike, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Apple and Tesla.
Based on CUiF’s 2023-2024 annual report, the university’s net assets in investments are worth over $454 million. According to the university’s website, the CUiF’s total value grew from $413 million to $454 million, a $41 million increase for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
According to Julie Fortier, the university plans to withdraw its investments from BlackRock, Boeing and Murphy Oil in order to transition to 100 per cent sustainable investing.
“As part of our commitment to be more transparent, we have been meeting with representatives of the Concordia Student Union in recent months to explain our investment strategy and had agreed to share the list of our internally-managed public holdings as it stood at the end of March – but the list will change on an ongoing basis,” Fortier said in an email to The Link.
Solidarity for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) Concordia celebrated the release of the document on their Instagram, calling it a victory for students and the pro-Palestine movement.
“We will continue to fight hard, this is one big step towards our bigger goal of divestment. We are nearly marking a year since the start of the historic McGill [University] encampment,” said a representative for SPHR who was granted anonymity for safety reasons.
