Trump’s Plan to Block Pensions From ESG Won’t Help Fossil Fuels
A new rule that aims to make it harder for pensions to invest in ESG based on old assumptions about policy and performance.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable meeting with energy sector CEOs in the Cabinet Room of the White House on April 3, 2020.
Photographer: Doug Mills/The New York Times via Getty ImagesThe U.S. Department of Labor is concerned that America’s pension fund managers don’t know what they’re doing.
That’s the rationale, at least, for the department’s newly proposed rule restricting the use of environmental, social, and governance considerations in investment decision-making. The language reaffirms the standard interpretation of fiduciary guidelines that only financial risks and returns can be considered in the management of U.S. employer-provided pension funds; “non-pecuniary goals,” for example relating to political or public policy, should not guide pension investments.