BlackRock isn’t the only one straddling fences cautiously. Many asset owners, including the second-largest public pension plan in the United States and his trendsetter in ESG investing, the $297.6 billion California Teacher Retirement Plan in West Sacramento, likewise avoid investing from fossil fuels, Prefers to seek change from within.
Kirsty Jenkinson, investment director for sustainable investing and stewardship strategies at CalSTRS, said pension plans are building multi-asset class portfolios that drive sustainable goals while adding returns across the fund. I said I was in the middle of it.
To that end, CalSTRS invests in strategies that help reduce carbon emissions, but also uses its influence to encourage fossil fuel companies to cut their emissions, she said.
CalSTRS, for example, has invested $1 billion in two new low-carbon transition readiness funds offered by BlackRock. CalSTRS holds approximately $8.8 billion in sustainable global equity, $4.4 billion in sustainable innovative strategies and $16.3 million in sustainable private equity investments as of June 30, according to latest semi-annual report doing.
Nonetheless, BlackRock is subject to oversight by the property owners or the public authorities that oversee them. This is based on the firm’s general interest in his ESG factors in a wide range of investment strategies.
P&I Three exits of BlackRock’s mandate, announced in October, totaled $1.5 billion, with many more assets at risk. Executive Director David McRae has asked the board of directors of Jackson, the $29.4 billion Mississippi Civil Servants Retirement Plan, to sell it from BlackRock. In a letter to the Pensions Commission, McRae said ESG policies would lead to “higher costs for consumers, a weaker Mississippi job market, higher inflation and lower returns on investment.” .
Meanwhile, other asset owners, such as the $443.2 billion California Civil Service Retirement Plan, Sacramento, have said as long-term investors that they cannot ignore the data that matters to their investment performance, they are more open to the politicization of ESG. I disagree. .
BlackRock has defended its policies on climate change risks, including 19 Republican U.S. Attorneys General who signed a letter dated August 4 to its CEO Lawrence D. Fink. accusing the company of “misusing the hard-earned money of the state.” In his position on energy investments, “avoid the highest possible return on investment.”
In response, BlackRock senior managing director and head of foreign affairs Dahlia Blas said in a Sept. 7 letter to the Republican Attorney General: Impacts on the energy transition will produce better long-term financial outcomes.These opportunities cut across the political spectrum.”
