Arizona largely cuts ties with BlackRock investment firm in ESG backlash

Many states began to publicly divest funds from the increasingly politically active investment advisor.

By Cameron Arcand | The Center Square

Published: December 8, 2022 4:35pm

Updated: December 11, 2022 6:23am

(The Center Square) -

Arizona state treasurer Kimberly Yee says the state began phasing out any investment management ties with BlackRock in February.

Yee said in a statement Thursday that her office faced numerous questions about its ties with the investing firm, as other states began to publicly divest funds from the increasingly politically active investment advisor.

”At the beginning of this year, I led in the national divestment effort to remove any exposure we had with BlackRock,” Yee said in a statement.

“In February of 2022, my office divested more than $543 million from BlackRock money market funds and reduced our direct exposure to BlackRock by 97% this year.L

The move was smaller than it might appear. According to the statement 98% of Arizona state treasury investments were already managed “in-house.”

BlackRock was used for “money market funds for daily liquidity needs.” BlackRock and the state never had a contract. Yee said that BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink’s political leanings helped drive the decision to divest, noting his “annual letters” to companies had a political agenda.

“In short, BlackRock moved from a traditional asset manager to a political action committee,” the treasurer continued. Fink has advocated for several liberal policies, including achieving net zero carbon emissions and the concept of “stakeholder capitalism,” according to one recent letter.

BlackRock is the biggest asset manager globally with $10 trillion in assets, Business Insider reported.

Several other states have also divested hundreds of millions from BlackRock, including Texas, Louisiana, Utah, Arkansas and South Carolina, according to The Washington Times.

Yee echoed the sentiment of these states in her criticism of “wokeism” and its influence in corporate America.

”We will continue to fight back against the dangerous path of companies pushing their social issues and wokeism inside of the investment space and return to traditional money management that puts the people first,” she said.