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New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced that he has recommended that the city’s pension […]]
NYC Comptroller Calls on City Pension Funds to Drop BlackRock, Fidelity Over Inadequate Net Zero Plans – ESG Today
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NYC Comptroller Calls on City Pension Funds to Drop BlackRock, Fidelity Over Inadequate Net Zero Plans
Mark Segal
December 2, 2025
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced that he has recommended that the city’s pension funds drop a $42 billion investment mandates with BlackRock, as well as those with Fidelity and PanAgora, over the asset managers’ failure to submit decarbonization plans that were aligned with the pension system’s net zero investment goals.
The Comptroller’s new recommendation focused largely on the approach the asset managers have taken towards complying with the Trump administration’s new reporting requirements to the SEC, which have led BlackRock and Fidelity to take more restrictive approaches on engagement and proxy voting than other large asset managers’ according to Lander, with BlackRock ceasing proactive engagement on proxy voting issues with U.S. companies where it owns 5% or more, and Fidelity applying restrictions to both U.S. and non-U.S. companies to prevent influencing them on decarbonization.
New York City’s pension funds represent over $294 billion in assets, and include the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), and Board of Education Retirement System (BERS). The Comptroller is the investment advisor to and custodian of assets of the city’s pension funds.
Lander’s new recommendations follows the launch by the NYC pension boards in 2022 of a Net Zero Implementation Plan, including a goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. As part of the plan, asset managers were required to submit net zero plans by the end of June 2025.
Earlier this year, Lander announced increased demands on asset managers to align their investments with the city’s climate goals, including requirements to submit strong net zero action plans, and to set expectations for all portfolio companies to set full value chain net zero goals. The Comptroller said that the net zero plans will be evaluated based on requirements for asset managers to engage portfolio companies to drive real economy decarbonization, rather than just decarbonizing portfolios, to incorporate material climate change-related risks and opportunities in investment decision-making, and to put in place a stewardship strategy addressing prioritization and escalation of engagement and voting to advance decarbonization.
In his new update, Lander said that 46 of the pensions system’s 49 investment managers submitted decarbonization plans aligned with the city’s net zero goals, but recommended rebidding rebid BlackRock’s more than $42 billion U.S. public equities index mandates, and that it terminate those of active managers Fidelity and PanAgora.
Lander said:
“The systemic risk of the climate crisis threatens the long-term value of New York City’s pension funds. Our Net Zero plan is a core part of our fiduciary duty to protect these assets. I am pleased to report that 46 of our 49 public markets managers are aligned with our expectations for decarbonization; unfortunately, three are not. Today, I am calling on my fellow trustees to move our money away from the three asset managers – BlackRock, Fidelity, and PanAgora – who fail to address climate risk with the seriousness we expect.”
Mark founded ESG Today following a 20 year career in investment management and research. Prior to founding ESG Today, Mark worked at Delaney Capital Management (DCM) in Toronto, Canada, most recently as the firm’s head of U.S. equities. While at DCM, Mark was part of the firm’s ESG team, responsible for evaluating and tracking the sustainability factors impacting portfolio companies, and assessing the suitability of companies for portfolio inclusion. Mark also spent several years in the sell-side research industry, covering the technology and services sectors. Mark holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York, a BBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, and is a CFA charterholder.
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