Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • LOGIN
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE Act 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
    • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
    • 2022 WorldPensionSummit
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Legislation
June 11, 2021 12:19 PM

Second Rubio bill aims to halt TSP fund flow to Chinese firms

Brian Croce
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Bloomberg
    Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

    Another bill seeking to prevent assets managed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, Washington, from being invested in Chinese companies was introduced Thursday in the Senate.

    Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced the TSP Fiduciary Security Act, which would amend the board's fiduciary duty to include a requirement not to harm national security.

    Under Mr. Rubio's bill, Thrift Savings Plan assets would be prevented from being invested in "Chinese military companies" and companies on the Department of Commerce Entity List. Moreover, proxy votes by the contractual managers of the TSP that would cause companies the TSP is invested in to harm national security assets would presumptively violate fiduciary duty, according to a news release.

    The Thrift board administers the $757.8 billion Thrift Savings Plan, the retirement system for 6.3 million federal employees and members of the uniformed services.

    Mr. Rubio has introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at preventing the Thrift board from directing retirement savings to Chinese stocks, including one last month that would conditionally ban the investment of TSP funds in securities listed on Chinese exchanges.

    In November 2019 — after calls from Mr. Rubio and others on Capitol Hill to reverse course — the board reaffirmed a 2017 decision to shift the TSP's I Fund benchmark to the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. Investible Market index from the MSCI EAFE index. The new index was made up of about 8% Chinese companies, according to an Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting study presented to the board in October 2019.

    But in May 2020, the board decided to pause the implementation after President Donald Trump nominated three people to the five-member board. However, those Trump nominees were never confirmed by the Senate, and President Joe Biden pulled their nominations in February. Mr. Biden has yet to put forth his own nominees.

    "It was incredibly shortsighted and dangerous for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to attempt to invest American civil servants' retirement savings in companies that are tools of the Chinese Communist Party," Mr. Rubio said in a news release. "But it was also revealing of a serious problem: The board and their friends on Wall Street will get away with using American servicemembers' own savings to fund threats to U.S. national security if the fiduciary duties binding these money managers only focus on short-term financial value."

    Kim Weaver, the board's director of external affairs, declined to comment Friday.

    At the board's May 26 meeting, she commented on two proposed amendments to a broader bill moving through the Senate that were aimed at preventing the board from directing TSP assets to Chinese stocks. "We have communicated our position that both amendments discriminate against our participants, in that neither prohibition would apply to any other 401(k) or IRA," Ms. Weaver said.

    Those amendments were not considered when the bill came up for a vote.

    Related Articles
    Bill to prevent TSP investment in Chinese stocks reintroduced
    Bill to prohibit TSP investments in China floated
    ESG or politics in China-TSP investing halt?
    Recommended for You
    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) gives the thumbs up as he leaves the Senate Chamber after passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
    Senate Democrats nix private equity tax in climate, prescription drug bill
    capitol_at_dusk_washington_1550-main_i.jpg
    Carried interest provision cut from Senate Democrats' reconciliation bill
    The U.S. Capitol at dawn in Washington on Jan. 4, 2021
    Bipartisan bill eyes granting CFTC oversight of bitcoin, ether
    Private Markets
    Sponsored Content: Private Markets

    Reader Poll

    August 10, 2022
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Gaining Momentum: Where Next for Trend-Following?
    The market opportunity in U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities
    Credit Indices Evolve with Enhanced Data Inputs
    Hedge Funds 2.0: Back to the future
    How Has 2022's Carnage Reshaped Global Stock and Bond Markets?
    Crossroads: Politics, Inflation, & Bonds
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    August 1, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE Act 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
      • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
      • 2022 WorldPensionSummit