BlackRock Escapes Texas Oil-Boycott List After ESG Retreat

BlackRock Inc. was removed from Texas’ blacklist of companies that boycott fossil fuels, ending a three-year standoff over the environmental policies of the world’s largest asset manager.

The move means pension funds and other state-run investment accounts — which manage more than $300 billion of assets — will be allowed to purchase BlackRock shares, invest in its exchange-traded funds and hire the firm for advice and risk management. Inclusion on the list resulted in some Texas entities pulling billions of dollars of assets from the firm.

State Comptroller Glenn Hegar said BlackRock had rolled back many of its green-focused initiatives, including exiting the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and stepping back from the Climate Action 100+, a group devoted to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. 

The move marks a win for BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, who has been courting Texas leaders. Last year, he took the stage with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at a summit focused on shoring up the state’s energy grid, and just months ago BlackRock sponsored a table at the Black Tie & Boots Gala, a celebration of conservative politics in Texas. The company is also backing a Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange.

“We appreciate the Comptroller’s resolution of this matter,” a spokesperson for the firm said in a statement. “BlackRock is proud to help millions of Texans retire with dignity and, on behalf of clients, invests over $400 billion in corporations, local governments, energy infrastructure and other private assets throughout the state. These investments support the continued growth of the Texas economy.”

Hegar touted some of BlackRock’s steps. He said while they are “unrelated” to the listing decision, the actions “show a real commitment to overall policy changes and a desire to act as a trusted partner in the growth of the Texas economy.”

The company was a major target for conservative activists for years, with groups taking out advertisements around the country targeting the firm and Fink in particular. They argued the company was trying to influence corporate America and wider society through its support for ESG and sustainable investing.

Republican officials in several states joined in that campaign, pulling money from the firm and arguing that it was harming fossil-fuel producing states like Texas. Fink himself said he would no longer use the ESG term because it had been politicized.

“We never set out to punish any of these firms, and the hope was always that any firm we included on the list would eventually take steps to ensure they were removed,” Hegar said in a statement. “BlackRock, following the lead of many of its competitors, has finally done exactly that. While it took the company longer than others in the financial sector to make the shift, the end results are what matter.”

BlackRock and a number of other financial firms including UBS Group AG and BNP Paribas SA were added to Texas’ blacklist in 2022. The action followed a law that restricted business with companies that the state considered to be hostile to the energy industry. 

Since then, the ESG push at investment firms, pension funds and law practices has faded somewhat, partly because of efforts to avoid attacks by President Donald Trump and Republicans.

BlackRock has been seeking to get off the list since it was added. The firm had always maintained it didn’t run afoul of the law. At the time it was included, the company said the decision was “not a fact-based judgment” and detailed investments of more than $100 billion in Texas energy companies. 

As head of Texas’ finances, Hegar is required to update the list once a year and can do so as often as quarterly. 

And though his office reviews information on an ongoing basis, removing BlackRock is likely to be one of Hegar’s last actions in the post. The three-term comptroller has been named the next chancellor of the Texas A&M University System after its current leader steps down on June 30. 

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