The list follows Mr. Russ' announcement in February that he had sent 160 financial institutions a questionnaire inquiring about their environmental, social and governance policies. The firms were required to respond to the questionnaire by April 1.
The other financial institutions on the list are Wells Fargo, Bank of America, GCM Grosvenor, Lexington Partners, FirstMark Fund Partners, Stepstone VC Global Partners, WCM Investment Management, William Blair, Actis and Climate First Bank.
The 13 firms will be ineligible for state contracts, including managing money for pension funds, because they either engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies or they failed to reply to the questionnaire, the news release said.
Other companies may be added to or removed to the list every 90 days.
Mr. Russ said the list upholds the Oklahoma's Energy Discrimination Elimination Act of 2022, which requires the state treasurer to identify financial companies taking actions "intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with a company because of its stance on fossil fuels and ESG criteria."
"It is essential for us to work with financial institutions that are focused on free-market principles and not beholden to social goals that override their fiduciary duties," Mr. Russ said.
The treasurer's office would not comment beyond the news release.
In a statement, BlackRock criticized the list, saying such lists "raise costs for Oklahoma taxpayers and reduce returns for firefighters, teachers and state employees seeking to retire with dignity."
BlackRock also noted that it is a leading investor in the Oklahoma energy sector. "On behalf of our clients, we invest over $15 billion in public energy companies based in Oklahoma and $320 billion in public energy companies globally. We invest billions more in renewable energy firms," it said in the statement.
State Street also disagreed with Mr. Russ' analysis. "State Street does not discriminate against oil and gas companies, or any other industry sectors," the company said in a statement. "We would welcome the chance to work with policymakers to provide them further clarity on our stance, and to address their concerns."
Bank of America said in a statement that it looked forward to continued discussion with the Mr. Russ about the many ways it serves clients and communities in Oklahoma, including the energy sector.
Climate First Bank's CEO and Founder Ken LaRoe rebuked the Oklahoma treasurer, saying ESG should never be a partisan issue.
"This is nothing more than GOP political games that will cost investors, public pensioners and taxpayers dearly," he said in a statement.
Mr. LaRoe noted his bank currently does not do any business with the state of Oklahoma and debunked Mr. Russ' claim that ESG is a threat to America and Oklahomans.
"These actions only serve to hinder financial institutions from following responsible business practices that do good for the environment and the communities they serve," Mr. LaRoe said.
WCM Investment Management, meanwhile, said it should not have been included on any list of financial companies boycotting fossil fuel companies. "We believe our inclusion on the list is probably due to a miscommunication or lost notice, as we don't have a record of responding to any questionnaire which would presumably be used to determine such a list," said Sloane Payne, WCM's chief operating officer, in a statement.
FirstMark Fund Partners could not be reached for comment. All other companies on the list did not respond to a request for comment.
