September 2022
15Sep

US. State treasurers, NYC react to ESG backlash

An open letter signed by 13 state treasurers and New York City's comptroller Wednesday takes aim at what they call the "political backlash" against ESG investing by public pension and related funds. "Several states in our country have started blacklisting financial firms that don't agree with their political views," said the letter signed by state treasurers from California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander,...

September 15, 2022
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15Sep

UK. CDC and ESG: A truly long-term game

This summer’s introduction of collective defined contribution pension schemes was a watershed moment for the industry. With the rules now laid out and the first scheme — Royal Mail — expected to be launched imminently, attention is turning to scheme design, and in particular investment portfolios. With environmental, social and governance factors now firmly at the centre of pension fund investment, many proponents of CDC believe that it is perfectly positioned to progress the responsible and sustainable investment cause to the...

September 15, 2022
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14Sep

Florida pension fund report shows support for ESG proposals, including at Exxon

Pension fund supported more than 40% of social-related proposals amid anti-ESG resolution Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, voted in favor of more than 40% of social-related shareholder resolutions and nearly 30% of environmental-related shareholder resolutions during the fiscal year ended June 30, according to a report included with materials for the board's investment advisory council on Tuesday. The board, which oversees $228 billion in assets including the $180 billion Florida Retirement System, supported 50.1% of shareholder-proposed ballot resolutions at Russell...

September 14, 2022
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13Sep

How ESG investing got tangled up in America’s culture wars

A growing number of Republican politicians are moving to penalize Wall Street investors who consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when they decide where to put clients' money. In Florida, a state board chaired by Gov. Ron DeSantis recently barred investment fund managers and advisors from considering "social, political, or ideological interests" when making decisions for Florida's retirement system. In Texas and West Virginia, GOP leaders say they will block investors from state business who they claim "boycott" the...

September 13, 2022
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05Sep

US. ESG, CIOs on crash course with politics

How 'woke' a public pension plan portfolio is depends on which state it's located in As executives and trustees of public pension plans navigate the balance between political demands and fiduciary duties, they are encountering legislators and governors to the right and the left telling them what they must do or cannot do, but without offering much guidance on how to do it while still setting deadlines for action. Often depending on the political color of the state, public pension executives...

September 5, 2022
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August 2022
26Aug

ESG and Private Market Assets: UK, EU, and Australian Investors Shifting the Trillions (2022 – 2026)

By M. Nicolas J. Firzli, Nick Sherry & Guan Seng Khoo The co-authors of the article, are amongst the original coiners of term such as “infrastructure as an asset class” and “pension superpowers.” They also predicted, at the onset of the Covid Crisis, that a “historic realignment on the asset allocation front is happening precisely at the moment when ESG is moving centre stage: even in once staunchly neoliberal jurisdictions like Texas, Alaska or Switzerland, the smart money is betting on...

August 26, 2022
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26Aug

GOP Fury Over ESG Triggers Backlash With US Pensions at Risk

Investment professionals are warning that a Republican campaign seeking to wipe ESG off the financial map puts at risk the savings of ordinary Americans caught in the political crossfire. Read also United States: ESG And Political Climate Changes Environmental, social and governance investing is now under attack in the world's largest economy. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis this week banned state pension funds from screening for ESG risks. Texas is seeking to isolate financial firms it says are hostile toward the fossil-fuel...

August 26, 2022
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26Aug

Climate Risk and Indian Pension Funds

Since Reserve Bank of India (RBI) published its discussion paper on climate risk for stakeholder consultation it is somewhat puzzling to notice that other financial regulators have not taken a similar approach to gauge the extent of climate risk in their respective domains. Climate risk, being a systemic risk, will impact the entire financial sector. Let us take the case of pension funds. Globally, since the signing of UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), major pension funds such as the Ontario...

August 26, 2022
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26Aug

US. Texas’s threat to boot BlackRock from pension funds forces corporations into can’t-win battle over ESG investing

Hi from Geneva, Switzerland. Peter Vanham here, filling in for Alan. I’m Fortune’s newly minted executive editor, responsible for the Connect learning platform. I’ll also be joining Alan in writing on corporate America’s turn to stakeholder capitalism and sustainable business practices. Speaking of which, in the latest backlash to ESG, Texas state comptroller Glenn Hegar yesterday listed BlackRock and nine other asset managers using ESG investing as “financial companies that boycott energy companies.” He warned BlackRock and Co. would be “subject...

August 26, 2022
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25Aug

Florida State Board bans ESG considerations in managing pension plan

Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, passed a resolution Tuesday that all decisions related to the investment management of the Florida Retirement System will not include ESG considerations. The trustees of the board, which oversees a total of $240.1 billion, including the $189.7 billion Florida Retirement System, are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody. A news release from Mr. DeSantis' office said the trustees passed the resolution to update the fiduciary duties...

August 25, 2022
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