Texas Targets 10 Financial Companies, 340-Plus Funds Over ESG-Driven Fossil Fuel Divestment

Texas on Aug. 24 released a list of 10 financial companies and almost 350 funds said to be boycotting energy firms involved in fossil fuels, marking the latest step in the pushback by individual U.S. states against the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement.

Because of Texas Senate Bill 13, which took effect in September 2021, the state comptroller must publish such a list. The measure, which was enacted in June 2021, requires many state government entities to divest from ESG-guided companies and funds.

“I’m happy to see that states are continuing to do what they feel is in their best interest, in terms of fighting back against ESG,” Derek Kreifels, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, told The Epoch Times on Aug. 24.

“The [ESG] movement has produced an opaque and perverse system in which some financial companies no longer make decisions in the best interest of their shareholders or their clients, but instead use their financial clout to push a social and political agenda shrouded in secrecy,” state Comptroller Glenn Hegar said in an Aug. 24 statement.

“Our review focused on the boycott of energy companies, rather than a review of the entire ESG movement. This research uncovered a systemic lack of transparency that should concern every American regardless of political persuasion, especially the use of doublespeak by some financial institutions as they engage in anti-oil and gas rhetoric publicly yet present a much different story behind closed doors.”

The 10 companies on the list are BlackRock, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse Group, Danske Bank, Jupiter Fund Management, Nordea Bank, Schroders, Svenska Handelsbanken, Swedbank, and UBS Group.

“This is not a fact-based judgment,” a spokesperson for BlackRock told The Epoch Times in an Aug. 24 statement in response to the Texas decision. BlackRock has more than $100 billion in its clients’ funds invested in