Dear John,
When U.S. House Judiciary chairs Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Thomas Massie send your office a letter demanding information about the New York City pension funds’ responsible investing efforts, what do you do?
You reply with a letter providing the details requested – but you make the systemic, well-documented, and material risks posed by climate change very clear. Ignoring these risks jeopardizes long-term shareholder value.
Here’s an excerpt of my response letter to Rep. Jordan and Rep. Massie:
“…climate change poses systemic and material risks to the global economy, to the City of New York, and to the investment portfolios of [the New York City retirement systems (NYCRS)]. Extreme weather events are leading to lives lost and billions of dollars in damages and economic disruption. Accordingly, NYCRS’ actions are aimed at mitigating the physical and transition risks caused by climate change to preserve long-term shareholder value.”
We’re not the only investors that Reps. Jordan and Massie are sending inquiries to. Shocking, right? The Congressmembers sent letters to more than 130 members of the Climate Action 100+, an initiative we stand firmly behind, asking for information pertaining to shareholder engagement and strategy.
If you’re not familiar, Climate Action 100+ is an investor-led initiative working to ensure that the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take appropriate action on climate change. The Comptroller’s Office was a founding member of this initiative and we are proud of our role because, quite frankly, we know that decarbonization mitigates financial risk and will help maximize the long-term value of our assets.
A pension is a promise — and as the investment advisor to one of the nation’s largest pension systems, I’m proud that our investment strategy achieved a robust 10% combined net return for our over the past year. I’m also proud of the critical step that three of our funds took to divest from fossil fuel reserve owners, implement a comprehensive engagement strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, and substantially scale up investments in climate solutions.
We’re committed to paying attention to all risk factors that could impact our bottom line – and that’s not going to change. Learn more about the New York City public pension funds here.
Thanks,
Brad
