Decoding asset managers’ flight from Climate Action 100+

Well, this sucks.

US investors JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM), State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), and PIMCO have all left Climate Action 100+ (CA100), the 700+ strong investor initiative dedicated to engaging companies on their climate efforts.  BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is also stepping back from the group, shifting participation to its international arm.

Sure, the firms abandoning the CA100 – an alliance they signed up to with such pride a few short years ago – have their reasons.  Plenty of media outlets have already dug into these (the New York Times coverage is particularly enlightening, for those interested). The tl;dr is that US firms think sticking with the group exposes them to legal and political risks, particularly now it’s shifting focus to portfolio companies’ climate transition plans.

However, few outlets have compared and contrasted the firms’ stated motivations for leaving these alliances with the ones given for joining them in the first place. 

This exercise shows how the asset managers have tied themselves in knots in a futile effort to escape the wrath of MAGA Republicans, who have made ESG a front in their senseless culture wars.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say fiduciary duty has been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency – and it won’t even win the CA100 leavers the peace they so crave. Why would the far right give up on their favorite punching bags? Indeed, the Oklahoma Treasurer, Republican Todd Russ, this week pushed BlackRock, SSGA, and JP Morgan to leave other climate groups they are a part of. Anti-ESG activists smell blood, and they won’t let up the hunt now.