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When I was elected as your state treasurer, I promised to protect Hoosiers’ hard-earned money—and I meant it. That means ensuring every dollar managed by the state serves its intended purpose.
Fiduciary responsibility is about securing strong financial returns for Indiana. That responsibility compels me to stand against woke corporations pushing political motives, like investing based on environmental and social agendas—otherwise known as ESG. It is why I made it my priority to support legislation that would protect Hoosiers from these practices.
Today, Indiana is on the front lines of the ESG battle. It started when I fought to pass Indiana’s strongest ESG law in 2023, which protects public employee pensions. But passing legislation was just the first step.
In June 2024, my office took a hard look at one of our state’s most influential asset managers—BlackRock—a poster child in the ESG movement. As a result of my office’s research, we published our findings and put them on our watch list.
Our review confirmed what we suspected: BlackRock’s priorities did not align with the best interests of Hoosiers. BlackRock used its woke political agenda to inform investments rather than financial returns. It is a prime example of using ESG motivations to make investment decisions, resulting in diminishing returns for Hoosiers.
In December, along with Indiana Comptroller Elise Nieshalla and the entire Indiana Public Retirement System board, we unanimously made the bold decision to remove BlackRock from managing our state’s pension funds.
Recently, the impact of that decision became undeniable. BlackRock announced its withdrawal from the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, a cornerstone of the ESG movement. Days later, the initiative collapsed entirely, a direct result of states like Indiana taking a stand and refusing to let BlackRock misuse public funds for political gains.
This domino effect proves that we can push back—and win. Indiana’s stand against ESG has encouraged other states to take a closer look at what these initiatives really mean for everyday Americans. They’re finding that ESG often prioritizes politics over the financial futures of the people who matter most—the teachers, first responders and highway workers counting on their pensions. These hard-working Hoosiers should never have to choose between paying for their mortgage and paying for their medicine.
With President Trump’s leadership in the White House and a Republican-controlled Congress likely to back states fighting ESG overreach, Indiana’s fight against ESG is stronger than ever. Together, we can ensure that public funds serve the people—not corporate agendas or political ideologies. Indiana has started something big, but the fight is not over.
My message is simple: Woke corporations do not get to gamble with Hoosiers’ livelihoods. Financial decisions must be grounded in sound economics, not trendy politics. That’s why we’re setting clear standards in Indiana and holding companies accountable.•
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Elliott, a Republican, is the state treasurer of Indiana.
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What a load of nonsense. Elliott and his ilk are jeopardizing the retirement savings of Indiana’s public employees to prop up coal companies, among others.
Invest in the best funds that get the best returns. Fiduciary standard. That was the law and should have remained the law.