On December 1, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis announced that $2 billion of the state's assets will soon be divested from BlackRock, Inc.
Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said in a statement, "As Florida's Chief Financial Officer, it's my responsibility to get the best returns possible for taxpayers. The more effective we are in investing dollars to generate a return, the more effective we'll be in funding priorities like schools, hospitals and roads. As major banking institutions and economists predict a recession in the coming year, and as the Fed increases interest rates to combat the inflation crisis, I need partners within the financial services industry who are as committed to the bottom line as we are - and I don't trust BlackRock's ability to deliver."
Shares of BlackRock decreased by 2.5% following the announcement, which have caused financial stocks to be in significant danger this past Friday. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund
"Whether stakeholder capitalism, or ESG standards, are being pushed by BlackRock for ideological reasons, or to develop social credit ratings, the effect is to avoid dealing with the messiness of democracy," Patronis said. "It's undemocratic of major asset managers to use their power to influence societal outcomes."
According to BlackRock, Patronis and his office had never before called attention to any type of concerns when it came to performance, but did choose to invest in over $65 million in companies based in Florida. BlackRock also took care of $1.43 billion worth of Florida's Long Duration Portfolio. It helps with managing investments such as municipal bonds or corporate obligations.
Thus far, primarily Republicans have decided to veer away from BlackRock among other companies. But this doesn't stop other parties from pursuing BlackRock as a financial investment. The Democratic Party, for instance, has insisted that BlackRock "does not press ESG concerns enough".
- https://www.myfloridacfo.com/news/pressreleases/details/2022/12/01/cfo-jimmy-patronis-florida-treasury-divesting-from-blackrock
- https://news.yahoo.com/florida-pulls-2-billion-blackrock-141435027.html
- https://www.marketwatch.com/story/florida-is-divesting-2-billion-in-assets-managed-by-blackrock-because-of-emphasis-on-environmental-and-social-investing-11670000626
