US

Kentucky Officials Demand Proof That State Pension Funds Aren’t Used For Woke Investing

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Jack McEvoy Energy & Environment Reporter
Font Size:

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and State Treasurer Allison Ball are calling on the state’s Public Pension Authority and Teachers’ Retirement System to provide proof that it is preventing entities from investment of pension funds to promote environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) agendas, according to a letter sent on Oct. 31.

Cameron and Ball wrote that ESG investing is illegal as it violates “statutory and contractual fiduciary duties” by trying to “force social change” instead of solely pursuing profits. The state officials asked the pension authority and teachers’ retirement fund to prove that it is actively preventing ESG investing and said that the authority had until Nov. 23 to respond to their request, according to the letter. (RELATED: ‘Massive Fiduciary Breach’: Missouri Withdraws Half A Billion Worth Of Pension Funds From BlackRock’s Control)

“Prioritizing ESG-related investments above the financial interests of investors is inconsistent with Kentucky law, and we’ve sent this letter to ensure these practices are not at work in the Commonwealth,” Cameron said in a statement.

Cameron and Ball further stated that “political agendas” have no place in citizens’ retirement funds, according to the letter. The pension authority and the teachers’ retirement system manage a combined $66 billion worth of public retirement funds.

The inquiry into Kentucky’s pension fund comes after Cameron found in May that investment managers must exclusively work to make profits for their stakeholders, according to an official opinion he produced. Therefore, unless one can prove that investments were made with only profits in mind, politically motivated investing is illegal in Kentucky.

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY – APRIL 07: Allison Ball, Kentucky State Treasurer, State of Kentucky speaks onstage during the 2022 Concordia Lexington Summit – Day 1 at Lexington Marriott City Center on April 07, 2022 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images for Concordia)

Republican attorneys general and treasurers have pushed back against ESG investing that has been promoted by large asset managers like BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street and other financial institutions. Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announced on Oct. 18 that his state would take its retirement portfolio out of BlackRock’s hands as the company is using its control of pension funds to push a “left-wing” agenda, according to a press release.

In August, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmidt and 18 other Republican attorneys general alleged that the company used funds to pressure companies to phase-out fossil fuels and comply with its climate agenda instead of making money for its clients. However, BlackRock denied these allegations and claimed that considering “climate risks” are an important part of long-term investment strategies, according to a response letter.

“Kentuckians worked hard for decades to earn their pensions and rely on them for livelihood in retirement,” Ball said in a statement. “It is important their investments are maximized, not politicized.”

The Kentucky Public Pension Authority and Cameron’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel