State retirement oversight board removes BlackRock for ESG violations
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The state’s public retirement oversight committee plans to remove BlackRock Inc. from its investment portfolio after a state review found the firm has participated in environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, practices.
The board of the Indiana Public Retirement System, or INPRS, unanimously voted Friday afternoon to take the final step of replacing BlackRock as the provider of global inflation-linked bonds to the system.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager and a leading provider of investment, advisory and risk-management services, was the first company that the state Treasurer’s Office placed on a watchlist for potential violations of a recent state law.
Indiana passed a law in 2023 directing the INPRS board to refrain from making investments with the purpose of “influencing any social or environmental policy or attempting to influence the governance of any corporation for nonfinancial purposes.”
The law defines an ESG commitment as a decision to make asset choices that take into account nonfinancial factors “to further social, political, or ideological interests based on evidence indicating the purpose.” Private equity funds, which make up about 15% of the state’s total pension investments, are excluded.
State officials are actively vetting the INPRS’s portfolio of about 10 to 15 asset managers to weed out those practicing ESG investing.
“While this law isn’t perfect and there is work to be done to ensure that all pension decisions are made using non-ESG factors, today’s decision is a good first step,” Treasurer Daniel Elliott said in written remarks.
Elliott’s office produced a report in June that lists several BlackRock actions that it considers in violation of state law. It included a company disclosure noting ESG engagement, the use of third parties for ESG data and its membership in a net-zero emissions consortium.
If a company is removed, the law asks that a comparable, anti-ESG replacement fills the gap of the company. State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla said a comparable asset manager does exist to replace BlackRock.
“I commend State Treasurer Daniel Elliott for his thorough research regarding BlackRock’s involvement in broad reaching priorities that are non-fiduciary and focused on social and environmental policy initiatives,” Nieshalla said in written comments. “State retirees and employees deserve to benefit from investment managers who focus solely on fiduciary duty.”
The state retirement board must select a replacement company within 180 days.