Texas Scorecard by Luca Cacciatore October 17, 2024
Researchers presented their findings defending Senate Bill 13 before the Texas Senate on Thursday.Two researchers presented data before a Texas Senate committee showing that the state law targeting global climate agenda policies in state investments and contracts is working as intended.
Eric Bledsoe, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability, and William Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, shared the findings Thursday before the Committee on State Affairs.
Bledsoe stressed that the so-called environmental, social and corporate governance policies—known popularly as ESG—trade “real capital for political capital” at the expense of beneficiaries’ financial security.
The policies first gained prominence in 2004 with the support of the United Nations and claim to provide a “responsible investing” framework that considers the global effects of climate change and other environmental issues while also generating a reliable financial situation for beneficiaries.
However, Bledsoe noted that investors’ fiduciary responsibility to beneficiaries often takes a back seat with ESG. He cited a 2019 study which found that out of 20,000 mutual funds representing over $8 trillion, regular funds outperformed ESG funds every time.
“Prioritizing political factors over maximizing returns—this makes money managers who promote ESG violate their fiduciary duty to beneficiaries,” explained Bledsoe.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/despite-critics-data-shows-texas-law-tackling-esg-is-working/
