POOLED London council pension funds have invested more than £7 billion in companies known to be complicit in the genocide of Palestinians, a “bloody money” study has found.

London CIV manages a £34.4bn investment portfolio on behalf of 32 local authorities across the capital.

Nearly £1bn is invested in arms manufacturers including “Elbit Systems, technology firms like Palantir, and numerous other companies, like logistics firm Maersk, implicated in human rights abuses,” the study by Shake the CIV said.

The Blood Money report by a coalition of 30 groups “demands the LCIV immediately, completely and permanently divests Londoners’ pension money from all entities and financial assets enabling Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.”

Five boroughs — Waltham Forest, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Lewisham — who have declared plans to divest have their pension funds tied up in LCIV portfolios.

Cllr Liam Shrivastava, who sits on Lewisham Council’s pension committee, said: “At stake here are not only the lives of millions of human beings but also local authorities’ right to make democratic decisions about financial matters.

“In the 1980s, many London councils made history by cutting financial ties with apartheid South Africa and recently many have divested from fossil fuels.

“Genocide is the crime of crimes — we have to do whatever we can to stop it.”

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) campaigns officer Lewis Backon said: “PSC welcomes this detailed new report from Shake the CIV, which further exposes the huge level of investment by London council’s pension funds in companies complicit in Israel’s genocide, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.

“This report will help fuel divestment campaigns, which are building substantial pressure on councils to take action to divest from companies enabling Israel’s atrocities.

“Twenty-one councils in England and Wales have now committed to support divestment — we must ramp up the pressure on all councils to join them.”

Shake the CIV says that the LCIV disclosed the data on which its figure is based in mid-2024, but “has so far taken no meaningful action to end  it … has explicitly rejected calls for divestment and remains deeply financially embroiled in the ongoing genocide.”

LCIV was contacted for comment. In September, it posted on its website that the £7bn figure is “incorrect” by including £6.5bn “passive strategies” managed by third-party fund managers.