JP Morgan announce exit from major coalition advocating social conscious investment decisions

JP Morgan and State Street won’t be renewing its membership in a major ESG investor coalition, and Blackrock will be reducing its level of participation.

ESG is an abbreviation for Environmental, Social and Governance, which is essentially making investment decision with social consciousness in mind.

The two investment giants announced Thursday, Reuters reports, that they will be leaving Climate Action 100+, which is a coalition that asks investors that sign onto it to get companies they invest in to move beyond bank statements and take action to reduce emissions.

A spokesperson for JP Morgan Asset Management, according to ESG Today, said that the company has developed its own engagement capabilities enough to act on its own.

According to Reuters, a spokesperson for State Street Global Advisors, the company's asset management arm with some $4.1 trillion under management, was pulling out of the coalition as a result of priorities that Climate Action 100+ adopted in June.

These priorities ask the coalition’s signatories to engage with policymakers and publish details on their talks with the companies they invest in, on what goals the companies are pursuing to lower their emissions to zero by 2050.

The State Street spokesperson said the rules threaten the company’s ability to act independently.

BlackRock, the Financial Times reports, will reduce its participation in the coalition from a corporate member to a smaller international arm. According to the Financial Times, this will leave the coalition without participation from the world's five largest asset managers, which will limit its influence over shareholders