AXA to sell €1.8b of tobacco assets

Paris: French insurer AXA plans to stop investing in the tobacco industry, citing the impact of smoking on public health, and said it plans to sell its €1.8 billion ($2.02 billion; Dh7.41 billion) of assets in the sector.

AXA said it would divest its €200 million of equity holdings in tobacco companies immediately. It also plans to stop all new investments in tobacco industry corporate bonds and run off its existing holdings worth about €1.6 billion. “With this divestment from tobacco, we are doing our share to support the efforts of governments around the world,” incoming AXA chief executive Thomas Buberl said in a statement.