As part of the attacks on ESG, an important vote was passed by the US Senate which is worthy of note to all ESG investors and the Veris network. The US Senate passed House Joint Resolution 30 (H.J. Res 30), the Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolution to overturn the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final rule on “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights.” The resolution now goes to President Biden’s desk where he is expected to veto it.

Veris supports the statement made by Bryan McGannon, Managing Director of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment:

“We urge the President to quickly veto the resolution and allow the marketplace to continue to fulfill their fiduciary duty to plan participants and meet the growing demand for sustainable offerings in retirement plans. The Department of Labor’s ESG rule is a sensible policy allowing retirement plan fiduciaries to consider all financially relevant information when making investment decisions. This benefits plan participants and it ends the retirement policy pendulum between administrations. These gains are undermined by the March 1 vote to kill the rule. The DOL’s final rule does not mandate the consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, as proponents of the CRA suggest. In fact, the rule re-affirms ERISA’s long-standing principle that the duties of prudence and loyalty require ERISA plan fiduciaries to focus on relevant risk-return factors and not subordinate the interests of participants and beneficiaries.”

We hope that you will support this call for President Biden to veto the resolution. We will also keep you updated on any further federal level attacks on our sector.

Sincerely,

Veris Wealth Partners