{"id":11092,"date":"2022-12-01T22:05:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T22:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/?p=11092"},"modified":"2022-12-02T08:46:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T08:46:20","slug":"florida-pulls-2-billion-from-blackrock-due-to-esg-investing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/florida-pulls-2-billion-from-blackrock-due-to-esg-investing\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Pulls $2 Billion from BlackRock Due to ESG Investing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

Florida will divest $2 billion of assets managed by BlackRock by the end of the year, according to a statement released Thursday by state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, citing the investment manager\u2019s integration of ESG considerations in its investment process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calling BlackRock\u2019s support for ESG a \u201csocial engineering project,\u201d Patronis said that \u201cit\u2019s got nothing to do with maximizing returns and is the opposite of what an asset manager is paid to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patronis added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI need partners within the financial services industry who are as committed to the bottom line as we are \u2013 and I don\u2019t trust BlackRock\u2019s ability to deliver.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In a statement from BlackRock provided to ESG Today, however, the investment manager said that it was \u201csurprised by the Florida CFO\u2019s decision given the strong returns BlackRock has delivered to Florida taxpayers over the last five years,\u201d and adding that \u201cneither the CFO nor his staff have raised any performance concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BlackRock added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a fiduciary, everything we do is with the sole goal of driving returns for our clients.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The announcement marks the latest move in an ongoing anti-ESG push by Republican politicians in the U.S., including a resolution passed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis<\/a> to no longer allow ESG considerations to be used by fund managers for the state\u2019s $228 billion of pension funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BlackRock, as the largest global investment management company, and a leading voice in the investment community on climate change and energy transition-related investment themes, has found itself at the center of many of these efforts, with Louisiana recently announcing a planned divestment from BlackRock funds of nearly $800 million<\/a> in order to \u201cprotect\u201d the state\u2019s Treasury funds \u201cfrom ESG,\u201d and Missouri pulling $500 million<\/a> in pension assets from BlackRock due to the firm\u2019s \u201cwoke political agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August, 19 Attorneys General signed a letter<\/a> accusing BlackRock of acting with \u201cmixed motives\u201d in its pursuit of an anti-fossil fuel and pro-net zero agenda for following a \u201csocial purpose\u201d not aligned with a focus on financial returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September, BlackRock responded to these claims<\/a>, with a letter by Head of External Affairs Dalia Blass, hitting back at \u201cmisconceptions\u201d raised about the firm, as well as what it called \u201cseveral inaccurate statements\u201d in the letter relating to the investor\u2019s motivations for participating in ESG initiatives. The letter stressed that BlackRock\u2019s climate focus is fully aligned with its fiduciary duty \u201cto identify short- and long-term trends in the global economy that may affect our clients\u2019 investments,\u201d and that its engagement efforts are focused on asking companies for improved disclosure, and not on dictating emissions targets or lobbying activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s statement, BlackRock hit back at Florida\u2019s recent anti-ESG moves, which it said will ultimately hurt the state’s citizens, adding that the firm is \u201cdisturbed by the emerging trend of political initiatives like this that sacrifice access to high-quality investments and thereby jeopardize returns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state\u2019s assets included in the divestment include $1.43 billion of Florida\u2019s Long Duration Portfolio, which includes corporate obligations, asset backed securities, and municipal bonds, and the State Treasury\u2019s $600 million Short Term Investment Fund which was managed exclusively by BlackRock.<\/p><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida will divest $2 billion of assets managed by BlackRock by the end of the year, according to a statement released Thursday by state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, citing the investment manager\u2019s integration of ESG considerations in its investment process. Calling BlackRock\u2019s support for ESG a \u201csocial engineering project,\u201d Patronis said that \u201cit\u2019s got […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlorida Pulls $2 Billion from BlackRock Due to ESG Investing - ESG Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esgtoday.com\/florida-pulls-2-billion-from-blackrock-due-to-esg-investing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florida Pulls $2 Billion from BlackRock Due to ESG Investing - ESG Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florida will divest $2 billion of assets managed by BlackRock by the end of the year, according to a statement released Thursday by state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, citing the investment manager\u2019s integration of ESG considerations in its investment process. 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