THREAD I’ve been reporting on the disparities in #COVID19 deaths at different nursing homes and last month, I was surprised to see the Globe and Mail recommend the large #LTC chain Extendicare as a stock to buy. #COVID19Ontario #onpoli

2/ So I asked myself: Who invests in a long term care chain during a deadly pandemic?

I combed through Bloomberg and among the rich guys and investment banks, I found lots of pensions. #COVID19Ontario #onpoli #LTC https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/01/27/pension-plans-own-millions-of-shares-in-ontario-long-term-care-homes-where-covid-19-has-killed-thousands-now-some-are-pulling-their-money-out-of-the-for-profit-facilities.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=GTA&utm_content=pensionplanstarinvestigation

3/ I found $44 million in nursing home stock owned by pension funds.

This means that millions of seniors are funding their retirements with dividends extracted from companies accused of scrimping on other seniors - LTC homes where residents die at far higher rates than elsewhere

5/ I looked up the pension funds and found that most of them have some sort of ethical investment policy and asked them whether it might apply to #LTC investments during a deadly pandemic. #COVID19Ontario #onpoli

6/ Turns out that two of these pension funds - including the Canada Pension Fund that every working Canadian contributes to - have already divested from for-profit long term care. #onpoli #COVID19Ontario https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/01/27/pension-plans-own-millions-of-shares-in-ontario-long-term-care-homes-where-covid-19-has-killed-thousands-now-some-are-pulling-their-money-out-of-the-for-profit-facilities.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=GTA&utm_content=pensionplanstarinvestigation

7/ While we don’t know exactly when the pension funds sold their shares, we do know they sold after March 31 — at a loss.

This is an unusual move for a massive institutional investor, which wouldn’t normally sell low during a market-wide downturn. #covid19ontario #onpoli

Shown my findings, @HughWheelan editor of @RI_News_Alert said the problem with for-profit nursing home providers is “they’ve been trying to achieve returns that are unrealistic for the sector.”

“It doesn’t make sense. In fact, it’s worse than that. It’s bloody dangerous.”