Boyden Gray & Associates partner Jonathan Berry was recently quoted by New York Times columnist Ron Lieber in an article published on January 30th, titled “Politicians Want to Keep Money Out of E.S.G. Funds. Could It Backfire?”
The article discussed two state treasurers’ push back of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock’s ESG investments, citing their fiduciary duty to its citizens. BlackRock’s ESG funds’ underperformance, the article explains, might “create an opening for a breach-of-fiduciary-duty lawsuit.” However, the article notes that despite this possibility “there are high hurdles to clear for any enterprising lawyer looking to bring such a suit on behalf of a citizen or petitioner.”
Jonathan Berry discussed the difficulties of bringing such a suit in a “deep Blue state,” imagining “a scenario where he would be squaring off with California’s pension managers.” He stated:
I would not expect to be successful going up against Calpers in a California state court, really for anything.
The full article is available here.