Missouri has pulled $500 million out of pension funds managed by BlackRock Inc, state Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick said on Tuesday, accusing the asset manager of “prioritizing” environmental, social, and governance (ESG) over shareholder returns.
Seven Republican-led states have sought to cut business ties with BlackRock over its ESG push, with Louisiana earlier this month saying it would pull $794 million out of the company’s funds. Missouri’s disinvestment from the company brings the total of lost revenue for BlackRock from red states to $3.2 billion.
While environmentalists have protested that the world’s largest asset manager does too little to press for change at fossil fuel portfolio companies, Republican politicians have accused it of boycotting energy stocks.
Fitzpatrick said that Missouri had pulled its funds from the world’s largest money manager because of putting a “woke political agenda” above the interests of its shareholders according to a Washington Examiner report.
“Fiduciary duty must remain the top priority for investment managers, a duty some of them have abdicated in favor of forcing a left-wing social and political agenda that has failed to succeed legislatively on publicly traded companies,” Fitzpatrick said. “MOSERS has an obligation to manage its assets in a way that prioritizes providing maximum possible returns for retirees and taxpayers.”
Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink last week defended the company’s investments, saying “(I am) now being attacked equally by the left and the right so I’m doing something right”.
“While the actions of some elected officials have attracted media headlines, they do not reflect the totality of our clients’ investment decisions,” a BlackRock spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that the company had attracted $248 billion in net new long-term assets from clients this year.
Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System had asked BlackRock to abstain from proxy voting at companies on its behalf, but the asset manager refused its demand, Fitzpatrick said. Proxy voting is done by asset management firms on behalf of shareholders.
Copyright 2022 Thomson/Reuters (Additions and edits for FISM News by Michael Cardinal)