More and more US state pension funds are going to sell their Unilever shares. They do this because Unilever’s subsidiary Ben & Jerry's no longer wants to sell ice cream in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. For example, the Florida pension fund is banned from investing in Unilever.
At Unilever, they wanted to give the board the freedom to make tasty and nicer ice creams with the autonomy. But Ben & Jerry's is also openly committed to gay rights, peace, refugees and against racism, among other things. When Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's, the company was organized differently, says Hans van Oosterhout, Professor of Corporate Governance at RSM. Occupation of Palenstianian territories was never viewed as a potential problem.