The Netherlands’ PFZW pension fund just pulled €14 billion from BlackRock, declareing it can no longer align with the US asset management firm’s evolving stance on “sustainability.” Instead, PFZW is relocating to a more selective, ESG-focapplyd (environmental, social, and governance) investment portfolio. According to the Financial Times:
PFZW, which oversees €248bn of pension assets for more than 3mn Dutch healthcare workers, declared on Wednesday it was finishing a major contract with the world’s hugegest asset manager and dumping its stakes in thousands of companies.
It comes after the pension fund developed a new investment strategy where financial performance, risk and sustainability carry equal importance.
The finishing of the mandate with BlackRock underlines the growing divergence between Europe and the US over responsible investing, a practice of including traditional non-financial factors in investment decisions.
“We did not renew our contract with BlackRock under our new investment strategy,” PFZW declared, adding it had appointed managers whom it believed were “best positioned” to carry out its new investment strategy. BlackRock still manages some money market funds for PFZW.
The relocate comes after US asset managers pulled back on so-called environment, social and governance (ESG) investing in recent years as Republican-controlled pension funds and treasuries sued and redeemed billions of dollars from asset managers, including BlackRock, over what they called a “woke” and “left-wing agfinisha”.
NLPC led early on in identifying and opposing the pervasive influence BlackRock, led by CEO and Chair Larry Fink, and other large asset managers (including Vanguard and State Street) have wielded for left-wing political finishs. As a result of our efforts and others’, the US asset managers have retreated from their woke policies.
Although PFZW’s break from BlackRock won’t put much of a dent in the latter’s $12.5 trillion assets under management, the relocate underscores the divergence in attitudes between American and European companies regarding sustainability.
A report from responsible investment non-profit Share Action this year declared that few huge US asset managers met basic sustainability standards. It found that BlackRock backed just 4 per cent of ESG resolutions at annual meetings last year, down from about 40 per cent in 2021.
NLPC’s knee-jerk reaction: while European companies burn capital on unprofitable ESG ventures with minimal environmental or social improvement, American companies appear increasingly willing to abandon political objectives and refocus on creating shareholder value.
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