Lander, a Democrat, joins a broadening group of elected officials who are seeking to influence environmental and social causes<\/a> through the investment choices of their pension plans, putting giants such as BlackRock and State Street in their crosshairs.<\/p>\n His push aims to counter gains that conservative activists made over the past three years as campaigns to divest from asset managers that sought to limit their investments in coal and oil and gas entities took shape. <\/p>\n Texas in 2022 blacklisted several asset managers, including BlackRock, for what it called a fossil fuel \u201cboycott\u201d. Last year the state\u2019s attorney-general alongside 10 Republican-led states sued the three largest<\/a> US index fund managers over their coal investment policies.<\/p>\n Lander said BlackRock was \u201cunable\u201d to meet several of the pension systems\u2019 climate expectations, including encouraging portfolio companies to take \u201cconcrete\u201d actions, such as setting net zero goals and adopting clear transition plans.<\/p>\n The outgoing New York City comptroller, who campaigned alongside mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ahead of his victory this month, is considering a run for US Congress.<\/p>\n As part of his recommendation, Lander criticised BlackRock\u2019s interpretation of guidance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission in February, which he said was more conservative than rival asset managers. The SEC guidelines were viewed as an attack<\/a> on the use of environmental, social and governance factors in investing and prompted some money managers to cancel meetings they had with companies.<\/p>\n \u201c[BlackRock CEO] Larry Fink has said out loud climate risk is financial risk,\u201d Lander told the Financial Times, labelling the decarbonisation plan BlackRock submitted to the city as \u201cinadequate\u201d.<\/p>\n Lander said he did not \u201cbuy\u201d BlackRock\u2019s interpretation of the SEC guidelines and pointed out that State Street, which is the New York City pension systems\u2019 second-largest manager, was demonstrating it was possible to meet the city\u2019s climate expectations.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether [BlackRock is] scared of the Trump administration or looking for an excuse, what I do know is climate risk is financial risk\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009and we need asset managers who attend to the long-term risks in our portfolio,\u201d Lander told the FT.<\/p>\n The recommendation from Lander\u2019s report does not affect about $9bn of holdings BlackRock manages for the city\u2019s pensions, which include investments in mortgage, private and Treasury markets.<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n
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