Comptroller Brad Lander calls on top pension funds to sever ties with BlackRock over its climate investment stance. The NYC Comptroller's office, which is set to leave office in December, has urged three of the city's largest pension funds - the New York City Employees' Retirement System, Teachers' Retirement System and Board of Education Retirement System - to cut their investments from BlackRock.
Lander accused BlackRock of reining in its "climate engagement" in ways that pose unnecessary risks to its investments. He called on these three funds to shift their money to rival investment firms with a more robust approach to fighting global warming. The comptroller also urged the pension funds to sever ties with Fidelity Investments and PanAgora Asset Management, citing concerns over their environmental record.
BlackRock has been under pressure from the White House and Republicans for its stance on Environmental Social Governance investing (ESG). In recent years, the firm has scaled back some of its climate commitments in response to this pressure. The Securities and Exchange Commission had backed off enforcing Biden-era ESG disclosure rules as part of a crackdown on what was seen as "woke" capitalism.
BlackRock's Managing Director Armando Senra described Lander's comments as an attempt to politicize the pension funds, which could undermine their retirement security. The firm oversees $42.3 billion in city worker retirement funds.
Lander's comments come just weeks before Zohran Mamdani takes office and will likely have little impact on BlackRock, as he will be succeeded by current Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine who also endorsed the socialist mayor-elect.
Lander accused BlackRock of reining in its "climate engagement" in ways that pose unnecessary risks to its investments. He called on these three funds to shift their money to rival investment firms with a more robust approach to fighting global warming. The comptroller also urged the pension funds to sever ties with Fidelity Investments and PanAgora Asset Management, citing concerns over their environmental record.
BlackRock has been under pressure from the White House and Republicans for its stance on Environmental Social Governance investing (ESG). In recent years, the firm has scaled back some of its climate commitments in response to this pressure. The Securities and Exchange Commission had backed off enforcing Biden-era ESG disclosure rules as part of a crackdown on what was seen as "woke" capitalism.
BlackRock's Managing Director Armando Senra described Lander's comments as an attempt to politicize the pension funds, which could undermine their retirement security. The firm oversees $42.3 billion in city worker retirement funds.
Lander's comments come just weeks before Zohran Mamdani takes office and will likely have little impact on BlackRock, as he will be succeeded by current Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine who also endorsed the socialist mayor-elect.
. I mean, who doesn't love a good climate vs investment showdown? It's like the ultimate zero-sum game: save the planet or break the bank 
. And let's be real, it's about time someone called out BlackRock for its ESG stance - they've been dodging this issue for far too long 
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), but it's understandable that he'd want to protect the pension funds from what he sees as a "climate risk" 
. The question is, will these pension funds take him up on his offer and ditch BlackRock for a rival firm? Or will they just shrug it off and keep their money in the same old spot 
? One thing's for sure - this drama is about to get a whole lot more interesting 
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they're just sitting there watching their investments get impacted by climate change without taking any action 
. I mean, BlackRock is already scaling back its own climate commitments under pressure from politicians and I'm sure these pension funds could do the same. It's not like they have to take a huge risk or anything... 
just a bit of boldness would be nice. And honestly, who knows what the future holds? The White House might come after them next 
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Where the best investment firms rise to the top based on their performance, not because some politician tells them what's "climate-friendly" or not. 
BlackRock's got $42 billion invested in retirement funds and they wanna cut ties with them over climate concerns? It seems kinda extreme to me. I mean, if they're not gonna invest in companies that are doing some good... what's the point of investing at all? 
And what's with the politics getting in the way? Can't we just focus on making a difference without all the drama? 
I'm surprised Lander is going after BlackRock like this. The whole ESG thing seems kinda tricky. Interesting