Last Updated on October 12, 2022
The number one asset manager in the world has received extensive backlash from Republicans over the company’s far-Left ESG policies.
BlackRock, which manages a whopping $8.5 trillion in assets, has come under fire for its ESG investment policies that target the fossil fuel industry while propping up the Left’s climate change agenda.
State treasurers from the Republican states of Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah, and Arkansas announced their state treasuries are withdrawing a collective $1 billion in funds from BlackRock.
In the past year, Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder has made moves to remove a total of $794 million from BlackRock.
Last week, in a letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Schroder explained his reasoning behind the withdrawal.
“This divestment is necessary to protect Louisiana from mandates BlackRock has called for that would cripple our critical energy sector. I refuse to spend a penny of Treasury funds with a company that will take food off tables, money out of pockets and jobs away from hardworking Louisianans,” Schroder wrote.
Curtis Loftis, the South Carolina State Treasurer, told the Financial Times the state is pulling $200 million of its holdings from BlackRock by the end of this year over the company’s “leftist worldview.”
“I will not allow our financial partners to undermine my fiduciary responsibility to maximize investment returns while accepting a prudent level of risk for the benefit of our citizens. It is imperative that we stand up to BlackRock and resist the pressure to simply fall into line with their leftist worldview,” Loftis stated.
Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks, and Arkansas’ Dennis Milligan, are reportedly removing $100 million and $125 million, respectively.
The Republican states’ moves against BlackRock come following an August letter sent by 19 GOP attorneys to the company knocking its ESG priorities and “woke capitalism.”
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar slammed BlackRock for allegedly “boycotting energy companies” that do not push its’ climate change and ESG agenda.
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“The environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) movement has produced an opaque and perverse system in which some financial companies no longer make decisions in the best interest of their shareholders or their clients, but instead use their financial clout to push a social and political agenda shrouded in secrecy,” Hegar said.
“Our review focused on the boycott of energy companies, rather than a review of the entire ESG movement. This research uncovered a systemic lack of transparency that should concern every American regardless of political persuasion, especially the use of doublespeak by some financial institutions as they engage in anti-oil and gas rhetoric publicly yet present a much different story behind closed doors,” Hegar added.
Rightwing media figure Glenn Beck spoke with Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder about his concerns with BlackRock’s potentially dangerous ESG policies.
WATCH:
.@LATreasury tells me what happened when he met with BlackRock after Louisiana divested nearly $800 MILLION from the company: "They wanted to assure me they weren't against the fossil fuel industry…But what I read, see, and hear is something totally different out of their CEO." pic.twitter.com/bmhhr97IgU
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) October 10, 2022
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.
