World's No. 2 asset manager quits 'ESG' collective

(Unsplash)

By Jack McEvoy
Daily Caller News Foundation

The world’s second-largest asset manager Vanguard announced Wednesday that it was leaving the Net-Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM), a collective of financial institutions that support investments aimed at reducing global carbon emissions. Vanguard’s move came after several Republican attorneys general called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to prevent the company from purchasing publicly traded utilities due to the firm’s previous climate commitments.

On Nov. 28, 13 Republican attorneys general urged FERC to determine whether Vanguard should be allowed to buy utility stocks, as the company has allegedly colluded with other asset managers via NZAM and pressured utilities to reduce fossil fuel use which would have violated federal law, according to legal documents. Vanguard is now withdrawing from NZAM as the company wants to prove to investors that it makes climate-related investing decisions independently and does not want to restrict its investment options, according to a company press release.

“Vanguard’s decision to leave the Net-Zero Asset Managers initiative is a victory for the retirement accounts of hard-working Kentuckians and the energy needs of our Commonwealth,” Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said in a statement. “This is an important step toward stopping ESG driven policies that endanger Kentucky’s economy and threaten the availability of affordable and reliable electricity.”

WND is now on Trump's Truth Social! Follow us @WNDNews

More than 290 companies, including asset manager BlackRock, are signatories of NZAM, which already manages $66 trillion in assets and pledges to help the world produce “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050. In May, Vanguard, which manages roughly $7 trillion in assets, touted its commitments to the alliance’s aims and pledged that $290 billion would be invested in companies that have promised to produce “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050, according to Reuters.

The Republican attorneys general previously stated that Vanguard’s commitments to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investing mean that the company has violated its previous promises to FERC, in which the company said it would not exercise control over the companies or affect electricity prices. The officials further stated that Vanguard’s climate commitments could force utilities to shut down coal or natural gas-producing facilities early, driving up electricity prices.

Are "ESG" requirements losing popularity among investors?

“It is unfortunate that political pressure is impacting this crucial economic imperative and attempting to block companies from effectively managing risks — a crucial part of their fiduciary duty, Kirsten Snow Spalding, vice president of the investor network at the sustainability nonprofit Ceres, said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Ceres is a founding member of NZAM.

Vanguard referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to its statement.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]

EDITOR’S NOTE: Leftwing billionaire George Soros bankrolls everything evil – most recently the 75 pro-criminal “Soros district attorneys” who have transformed America’s most dynamic cities into degraded, crime-infested hellscapes of skyrocketing violent crime. Soros also funds drug legalization, euthanasia, open borders, globalism, Black Lives Matter, “defunding the police,” devaluing America's currency and destroying her sovereignty. But why?

Whistleblower magazine reveals and explores the stunning truth: Soros, an atheist, literally says he’s “some kind of god,” obsessed with re-creating the world in his image. Here are a few actual quotes from Soros: “If truth be known, I carried some rather potent messianic fantasies with me from childhood…” “It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” “You know, in my personal capacity I’m not actually a selfless philanthropic person. I’ve very much self-centered.” “I am kind of a nut who wants to have an impact.” “Next to my fantasies about being God, I also have very strong fantasies of being mad. … I have a lot of madness in my family. So far I have escaped it.”

Except he hasn’t “escaped it.” Not only is Soros totally mad, but he’s imposing his insanity on America. See Soros and the leftwing world he has created and funded as never before in “THE BILLIONAIRE WHO THINKS HE’S ‘GOD’: Why George Soros is obsessed with destroying America.”

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!