Republican-led efforts to penalise BlackRock for its stance on climate change have resulted in approximately $13.3bn being withdrawn from the asset manager by investment funds in Republican-leaning states. As reported by the Financial Times, the withdrawals include last week’s announcement by the Texas Permanent School Fund that it would divest $8.5bn at the end of April, the largest divestment to date by Republican-run pension funds.
According to the FT, BlackRock has responded to the pressure by employing various strategies, such as hiring a senior lobbyist with Republican ties and co-hosting events such as a power grid investment summit with Texas’s lieutenant-governor Dan Patrick, who has previously voiced concerns about the company’s use of environmental and social governance factors in investing.
