Tag: ESG Investments

EXCLUSIVE: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti Confident Settlement with BlackRock Will Help to Abolish ESG Investing Among Other Asset Managers

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti told The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy that ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) investing is “dead” at the “biggest asset manager in the world” on Friday as a result of a settlement reached Friday between the State of Tennessee and BlackRock, Inc.

In December 2023, Skrmetti filed a consumer protection lawsuit against BlackRock’s ESG investing, arguing that the hedge fund had misled consumers in Tennessee about the scale and impacts of its ESG initiatives for several years.

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AG Skrmetti Declares ‘Tennessee Beats ESG’ After Legal Settlement with BlackRock over Retirement Funds Used for ‘Radical Ideology’

Tom Pappert
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti on Friday celebrated a legal settlement between the State of Tennessee and BlackRock, Inc., which resulted in the company changing its policies related to Environment, Social, and Governance investing.

“Tennessee beats ESG,” wrote Skrmetti in a post to the social media platform X containing a link to the settlement. “BlackRock’s stringent obligations under this settlement ensure Tennesseans will not see their retirement funds used to support radical ideologies they oppose.”

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A.G. Jason Miyares Determines Virginia Retirement System Prohibited from Investing in ‘Unfounded ESG Fads’

Tom Pappert
Jason Miyares

Attorney General Jason Miyares determined in a Friday legal opinion the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) is prohibited by Virginia law from making investments based on controversial environment, social and governance (ESG) scores.

In a statement posted to the Virginia Attorney General website, Miyares said Virginians “spent decades working hard” for their retirement, and the commonwealth’s investments must be driven by financial data and not ESG scores as a result.

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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Details Consumer Protection Lawsuit Against BlackRock’s ESG Investing

Kaitlin Housler
TN AG Courtroom

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said his consumer protection lawsuit against BlackRock’s Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing will force the company to disclose if it is mixing ESG factors when making investment decisions instead of focusing on financial factors relative to the rate of return.

Skrmetti filed his lawsuit against BlackRock in December 2023, alleging that the hedge fund has misled consumers in Tennessee about the scale and impacts of its ESG initiatives for several years.

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Hobbs Vetoes Ban on ESG Investments in Arizona

The Center Square

Gov. Katie Hobbs has used her well-worn veto stamp on a bill that would have banned public investment funds in Arizona to do so through the lens of environmental, social and governance, or ESG, investing practices.

Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1500 on June 16. If enacted, it would have required the state treasurer to list all state investments by name on a public site so that all investments might be made “in the sole interest of the beneficiary taxpayer.”

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Montana AG Threatens Legal Action over ESG Investments Made by Non-Profit Attorneys General Group

Just the News

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has threatened to take legal action over Environmental, Social and Governance investments made by the nonprofit organization National Association of Attorneys General.

ESG investment strategies, increasingly prevalent among large-asset management firms, try to leverage investors’ assets to steer corporate decision-making to promote progressive social and environmental priorities.

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