Reuters: New York State fund swapped coal assets for responsible index ETF
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/new-york-state-fund-swapped-coal-assets-responsible-index-etf-2024-09-26/New York State fund swapped coal assets for responsible index ETF
By Ross Kerber and Isla Binnie
September 26, 2024 12:45 PM EDT
Sept 26 (Reuters) - Moving money from coal assets to a new responsible-investment exchange-traded vehicle provided the sort of quick win the New York State Insurance Fund was looking for when evaluating the climate and social impacts of its holdings, a top executive said on Thursday.
The new allocation "immediately reduced our carbon exposure in the equity portfolio by something like 40%," said Rajith Sebastian, head of ESG and Sustainable Investing for the
$20 billion state fund, at a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in New York.
Sebastian's fund provides workers compensation, disability and other coverage, and in 2022 released a climate action like those set out by New York's larger public-sector pension funds.
The insurance fund was starting later than those bigger peers and Sebastian said it initially was looking for "quick wins" by shifting parts of its portfolio toward goals like reducing emissions.