by Jason Cohen
Several asset managers used Idaho pension funds to support a race and climate agenda in 2022 and 2023, according to a report by conservative watchdog the American Accountability Foundation (AAF).
Public Employees’ Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) used six asset managers — Adelante Capital Management, AllianceBernstein, Brandes Investment Partners, Fiera Capital, Longview Partners and Mellon Capital Management — to manage the system’s equity portfolio of more than $5 billion, According to to their investment report. These managers have used Idahoans’ pension funds to support more than 150 shareholder resolutions on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues such as race, gender, climate and politics, According to to documents that AAF obtained through a public records request and shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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“The people of Idaho have never voted for racial equity audits or to strangle American energy, yet these ESG fund managers are using Idaho pension funds to push these policies anyway,” AAF President Thomas Jones told DCNF. “This is yet another example of ESG seeking to subvert the will of the American people and impose its radical agenda, whether we like it or not.”
There were 153 instances where these asset managers voted for what the watchdog calls “woke” shareholder proposals using PERSI funds. They include “race and gender pay gap reports, efforts to defund conservative candidates and pro-business trade associations, radical climate policies and pro-abortion initiatives,” the AAF said.
For example, AllianceBernstein used PERSI pension funds in 2023 to vote in support of a proposed “racial equity audit” at Comcast, which shareholders did not approve. resolutionIntroduced by the Service Employees International Union Master Trust, the Board of Directors advocated for “the Board of Directors to oversee an independent racial equity audit examining Comcast’s negative impacts on stakeholders of color and communities of color and describing steps, if any, Comcast has taken to mitigate those impacts.”
In 2023, AllianceBernstein also voted to support resolution at Wells Fargo for a “Political Expenditures Compliance Report” to assess how the banking giant’s political contributions align with its corporate values of supporting ESG. The proposal, which was also rejected by shareholders, specifically questions Wells Fargo’s support of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) and the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) because they oppose ESG.
In 2022, Mellon used PERSI pension funds to vote to support a resolution in Chevron for the oil giant to publish greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement on climate and “limiting global warming,” According to to the proposal. That same year, the asset manager also used the system’s funds to vote in favor of a resolution requiring AT&T to release a report on its political spending and how it aligns with the company’s values, including “carbon neutrality,” According to to the resolution of As You Sow, a non-profit organization that awards ESG points to companies.
Shareholders ultimately did not approve the Comcast, Wells Fargo and Chevron resolutions.
But Mellon he voted in support resolution at The Walt Disney Company in 2022, he pushed for a company-wide “Pay Equality Report” that was approved by shareholders.
“Active pay equity management is associated with better representation, and diversity is associated with better stock performance and return on equity,” it says. “Black employees make up 8 percent of Disney’s workforce but only 5 percent of its management team. Women make up 51 percent of Disney’s workforce and 42 percent of its management team.”
In 2017, PERSI administered retirement and benefit plans for more than 65,000 Idaho public sector employees, According to to the National Institute for Pension Security.
“PERSI Fund (DB [defined benefit] plan) there are no investments in funds with an ESG mandate,” a spokesperson for the state pension system told DCNF. “PERSI’s investment managers are responsible for voting all proxies in a manner consistent with the best economic interests of the System, for the exclusive benefit of the System,” According to to the system’s investment policy statement.
However, critics argue that ESG investments do not serve the best interests of shareholders trustee interests.
“It would be outrageous for PERSI asset managers to pursue their personal political agendas by using the wealth of Idaho employees and families. Even suggesting that they do so is grounds for termination. … Asset managers should have one goal, and that is to maximize the value of assets under management, consistent with the usual guidelines of fiduciaries,” Idaho economist and former Office of Management and Budget chief economist J.D. Foster told DCNF.
This S&P Global Clean Energy Index fell by about 10 percent in 2024, while S&P 500 Energy Indexwhere many oil and gas companies operate, has risen to more than 7 percent.
Asset managers have also used Nevada residents’ pension funds to push for similar proposals, previously DCNF reported based on another public records request filed by the AAF. Nevada Public Employee Retirement System uses asset managers such as BlackRock, AllianceBernstein, Mellon and State Street Global Advisors, which collectively to manage over $30 billion of the system’s stock portfolio.
Adelante, AllianceBernstein, Brandes, Fiera, Longview and Iowa State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth did not respond to DCNF’s request for comment.
Mellon declined to comment.
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Jason Cohen is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
