The Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, joined a group of Republican state officials accusing BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink of relying on sustainable investments instead of shareholder profits.
A group of attorneys general from 19 US states, led by Arizona s Mark Brnovich, wrote a letter last week saying that the world's largest asset manager is pursuing environmental, social and governance policies to the detriment of their state pension funds. The attorneys general represent mainly Republican-led, energy-producing states, including Montana and West Virginia.
The attorneys general said in the August 4 letter that the states will not stand by our pensioners retirements to be sacrificed for BlackRock's climate agenda.
BlackRock says it manages money on behalf of its clients and helps them navigate investment risks.
A BlackRock spokeswoman said that the money we manage is not our own. It belongs to our clients, many of whom make their own asset allocation and portfolio construction decisions. We offer a wide variety of products and strategies to achieve their desired outcomes. In the US, a number of conservative states have passed or introduced legislation that punishes financial firms for what they perceive as discrimination against the energy industry. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is probing energy policies at more than 100 companies, including BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase Co., in accordance with a law that requires the state to come up with a divestment list of financial firms that boycott the oil and gas industry. In May of this year, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law similar legislation.
BlackRock has been a political target for Republicans as the world's largest money manager with an outspoken CEO who has called for companies to think more than just profits. At the same time, the firm has emphasized that it continues to manage fossil fuel investments and doesn't advocate for such a divestment.