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JPMorgan Asset Management (New York Stock Exchange: JPM) and State Street Global Advisors (STT) said this week they will leave Climate Action 100+, a $68 trillion investor group created to lobby shareholders to pressure major greenhouse gas emitters gas to reduce emissions.
A third of the world’s top asset managers, BlackRock (BLK), has said it will reduce its stake, meaning none of the world’s five largest asset managers will fully support the activists’ effort.
JPM (JPM) said it has made a “significant investment” in developing its climate risk engagement framework, while State Street (STT) and BlackRock (BLK) have pushed back on the group’s “Phase 2” corporate engagement strategy climate, which they say conflicts with US laws requiring money managers to act solely in the long-term economic interests of clients.
Climate Action 100+ said last year it would change its focus from pressuring companies on climate information to pushing them to actively reduce emissions.
The group included many major asset management firms as members, but faced some departures after coming under increasing scrutiny from Republican state attorneys general and Republicans in Congress opposed to ESG investing.
Vanguard and Fidelity Investments never joined the Climate Action 100+, but Goldman Sachs, Invesco and Pimco are among the other large U.S. asset managers remaining in the group.
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