Swedish state-owned pension fund invests in Aurora Cannabis, Canopy

A Swedish state-owned pension fund has invested in cannabis companies for the first time.

More government-run pension funds are dipping into large-cap cannabis stocks, a sign that such investments are going more mainstream.

Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board recently boosted its stake in Ontario’s Canopy Growth and took positions in three more multinational Canadian marijuana firms.

The Swedish fund, AP7, is considered a higher risk – and potentially higher – return investment.

AP7 picked up shares in Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis and Canopy in 2018, the Stockholm-based business magazine Affärsvärlden reported.

The Canadian licensed cannabis companies were included after being added to Morgan Stanley Capital International’s All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI), an AP7 fund spokesperson told the magazine.

AP7 invests in all MSCI ACWI companies, “with one exception – the companies we blacklist,” the spokesperson said.

Canopy Growth’s shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol CGC and on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as WEED.

Aurora trades as ACB on the NYSE and TSX.