Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has sent letters to ten major asset managers demanding information regarding how environmental, social, or governance (ESG) factors are incorporated into their investment decisions, according to Reuters.
In response to a public records request, Reuters obtained copies of Skrmetti’s requests to the investment firms which were sent out on May 19. Among the firms that received letters from Skrmetti include AllianceBernstein, Invesco Ltd., and the Jennison Associates arm of Prudential Financial Inc., according to the outlet.
Skrmetti’s requests come as a “larger investigation into potential breaches of consumer law,” according to Will Hild, the Executive Director of Consumers’ Research.
In an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star, Skrmetti’s Chief of Staff Brandon Smith noted, “The Office of the Tennessee Attorney General is highly concerned with corporate collusion to harm consumers, violate antitrust law, and undermine the democratic process. Corporate entities cannot circumvent the democratic process by imposing their own policy preferences on American consumers through misleading and unaccountable methods.”
“We will continue to look into these matters and plan to defend Tennesseans and the rule of law,” Smith added.
Skrmetti’s request comes shortly after he joined 20 other state attorneys general in warning 53 of the nation’s largest asset managers about ESG investments.
In November of last year, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the ESG rule which allows retirement plan managers to consider ESG factors when making investment decisions instead of focusing on financial factors relative to the rate of return.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently signed a bill that voids the Department of Labor’s rule in the State of Tennessee, requiring the state treasurer to focus solely on financial factors relative to the rate of return of a particular investment.
At the federal level, however, President Joe Biden used his first veto in March to block a bill that would have nullified the department’s ESG policy nationally.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Jonathan Skrmetti” by Tennessee Attorney General. Background Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by Tennessee Office of the State Architect.
In other legal news, Bill Lee approved hiring private sector lawyers to defend state government in the Scotty Campbell mess (public records challenge). This was approved by Skrmetti, of course…. paying the private attorneys $375.00 an hour.
One person can make a difference. How great it would be if more people charged with leading law enforcement weeded out the corruption in society.
Such a contrast to the last do-nothing AG. What a breath of fresh air in the state government. And a rare one, I might add.