ESG is increasingly becoming another front in the political battle between Democrats and Republicans. Over the last decade, ESG has been embraced by many asset managers and has been used to encourage corporations to evaluate decisions beyond just finances and consider environmental, social justice, and governance implications. This has led to a pushback among conservatives who are opposed to corporate activism and want a return to when investors and companies focused on financials.

It culminated with legislation passing in many red states that bars asset managers from considering ESG factors when making investment decisions with state funds. The same battle has raged at the federal level. In a Reuters article, Daniel Wiessner covers the Biden Administration’s filing to toss a lawsuit from a consortium of 25 Republican-led states which is looking to uphold the Trump Administration's ban on socially conscious investing by employee retirement plans. 

The ruling would impact retirement plans of nearly 150 million Americans, representing $12 trillion in assets. According to the Department of Justice and the Biden Administration, retirement plans should consider ESG factors in addition to financial information due to their impact on a company’s long-term health.   

Finsum: Republicans are looking to fight back against ESG investing. In turn, the Biden Administration is looking to toss a lawsuit from Republican states which would ban ESG investing for employee retirement plans.