Just browsing through the financials of Allergan this evening and took a quick look at the list of the big instutional investors in the company. Barclays Global Investors hold about 2.96% of the company. The stock holding is worth around half a billion dollars. This is relatively small compared with the biggest institutional investor (UBS Global Asset Management) who hold an 8.12% stake valued at $1.6 billion. Both the valuations are based on September 2007 figures.

The relevance of this post? Well, the National Pensions Reserve Fund invests in various companies via managed funds. One of these funds is Barclays Global Investors… I could be mistaken, but this is the same Barclays Global Investors that hold a 2.96% stake in Allergan. There are 2 responses possible to this:

1. Pull money out of investment funds that invest in companies leaving Ireland for lower cost economies.

2. Pump more money into the funds that invest in companies leaving Ireland in the knowledge that in 15 to 20 years time, those companies will be earning such massive profits on the back of cheap labour, the NPRF will meet Ireland’s pension needs well beyond 2055.

Ok, so neither scenario is likely, but I just thought it interesting to note where the NPRF funds would appear to be invested at the moment. Small comfort to the workers in Arklow I am sure.