Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis issued a directive Monday barring managers of investment options in the $5.1 billion Florida Deferred Compensation Plan, Tallahassee, from ESG investing.
The directive posted on his website said he directed the state's Division of Deferred Compensation to "order all participating asset managers to remove ESG investment funds as options for participants in the Deferred Compensation Plan."
It is the Florida official's latest salvo in his war of words against what he has termed "woke" investing. He is one of three trustees of the $230.3 billion Florida State Board of Administration along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Allison Moody.
Mr. Patronis does not have any investment authority over the State Board of Administration, which oversees the investment management of state assets including the $181.5 billion Florida Retirement System.
The voluntary deferred compensation plan falls under the auspices of the state's Department of Financial Services, which Mr. Patronis oversees.
Mr. Patronis said in a news release Monday: "As ESG has gone unchecked throughout the financial services sector for too many years, fiduciaries who believe ESG is bad for returns need to take steps in redirecting dollars away from these funds, and into ones that are more focused on the bottom line. We've been boiled like a frog for too long, and it's time to hop out of the pot."
In his directive, Mr. Patronis notes that certain financial products may not be explicitly labeled "ESG funds," but may use "alternative terms such as sustainability, equity, social responsibility, and others."
In December, Mr. Patronis announced he was terminating BlackRock from the management of $2 billion in the state's long-duration portfolio and its short-term investment fund.
