West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and 20 other state attorneys general warned more than 50 of the nation’s largest asset managers about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments being made with Americans’ hard-earned money as annual shareholders’ meetings begin for many public companies.
In an open letter sent Thursday to 53 asset managers with $40 billion or more in assets, the attorneys general noted concerns that asset managers may be pushing the political goals of Climate Action 100+ and the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative rather than acting in the best fiduciary interests of their clients, which is their legal obligation.
“Asset managers should only consider the economic value of investments, not work to advance Biden’s woke climate change agenda,” Attorney General Morrisey said, joining in writing that the letter was sent over “concerns about the ongoing agreements between asset managers to use Americans’ savings to push political goals during the upcoming proxy season.”
The coalition reminded asset managers in the letter that they have extensive legal duties to their clients under federal and state law to act as a fiduciary to their client—which many asset managers appear to be disregarding in favor of their commitments to the Net Zero Managers Initiative and Climate Action 100+, which push ESG initiatives.
In addition, the coalition noted that during the 2023 proxy season asset managers will need “to choose between their legal duties to focus on financial return, and the policy goals of ESG activists” as banks, insurers, and utility and energy companies are all facing proposals from climate activists affiliated with organizations asset managers may have joined.
Additionally, issues related to abortion and political spending and race and gender quotas may also be included in numerous proposals this year but are not financially justified – and ESG aims themselves are not valid defenses.
Attorney General Morrisey joined the Montana-, Louisiana- and Utah-led letter with Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming.
Original source can be found here.