Va. AG Miyares joins multistate inquiry into asset managers’ environmental investments

BY: CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS - SEPTEMBER 3, 2024 3:27 PM

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares joined a cohort of 24 attorneys general seeking answers from financial institutions that are prioritizing investments in companies with greenhouse gas reduction targets.

Miyares signed onto a letter citing research from Consumers’ Research, a nonprofit organization, that highlighted large asset managers voting for recommendations by Institutional Shareholder Services on climate-related shareholder proposals. ISS is a proxy advisory firm that investment companies can use for recommendations.

The attorneys general asked the companies if they consult or rely on recommendations of proxy firms, such as ISS or other third parties, when voting on shareholder proposals relating to environmental issues.

“We are concerned that the [the companies] may have outsourced their voting in this area to ISS or another third party and are failing to carry out their fiduciary duties,” the joint letter to 25 of the nation’s top asset managers read.

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CHARLOTTE RENE WOODS
Charlotte covers politics for Virginia Mercury following several years of state, local and federal government coverage at other Virginia outlets to include the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Charlottesville Tomorrow. Some focal points of her coverage for Virginia Mercury include health and housing policy.

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