According to the Financial Times, some Republican-led states are removing their state funds from BlackRock’s management because they disagree with the asset manager’s ESG investment philosophies. ESG stands for Environmental, Social, Governance and it’s a Marxist agenda.
According to National Review, the ESG-investment crusade has taken a reasonable idea and stretched it well beyond reason.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER“Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment practices distract investors and corporate management from maximizing long-term profitability, which is often achieved through innovation, cost control, and customer focus. By diverting attention away from priorities that align with increased productivity and toward a shifting array of inconsistently defined social-impact criteria, the ESG orientation is a long-term threat to continued economic growth.”
In recent weeks, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah, and Arkansas all declared they would withdraw more than $1 billion from BlackRock.
In a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink last week, Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder said that he will withdraw all Treasury funds from BlackRock. According to Schroder, Louisiana will have taken out a total of $794 million by the end of the year, having already taken out $560 million.
According to Schroder, “This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from mandates BlackRock has called for that would cripple our critical energy sector,” said Schroder, adding, “I refuse to spend a penny of Treasury funds with a company that will take food off tables, money out of pockets and jobs away from hardworking Louisianans.”
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELBy the end of the year, South Carolina will withdraw $200 million from BlackRock, according to State Treasurer Curtis Loftis’ interview with Financial Times.
Republican states have been announcing for months that they would no longer do business with asset managers who have ESG-aligned investing policies, claiming that this proves that these financial institutions are shunning the oil and gas sector.
The fight against this trend is being spearheaded by Texas, the nation’s top oil-producing state. A list of financial institutions that could be prohibited from doing business with Texas, its state pension funds, and municipal governments, was released in August by the Lone Star State.
The ESG investment trend is seen as an attack on fossil fuels and a boycott of conventional energy sources in Texas and other Republican-led oil and gas-producing states because those resources’ revenues account for a sizable portion of state budgets in the oil, gas, and coal-producing region.
Attorneys General from 19 states, including Texas, West Virginia, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Ohio, wrote a letter to BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink in early August to express their displeasure with the asset manager’s pledge to achieve net-zero emissions across all of its assets.
“Rather than being a spectator betting on the game, BlackRock appears to have put on a quarterback jersey and actively taken the field,” the respective state’s top law enforcement officials wrote.
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