DeSantis Bans Woke Investments From Florida’s Retirement System

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, approved measures Tuesday to prevent the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan from investing in accordance with the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement.

The measures will ensure that public fiduciaries will “invest state funds in a manner that prioritizes the highest return on investment for Florida’s taxpayers and retirees without considering the ideological agenda of the environmental, social, and corporate governance [ESG] movement,” according to an August press release.

Decisions on investment “must be based only on pecuniary factors [which] do not include the consideration of the furtherance of social, political, or ideological interests,” the release reads, adding that the State Board of Administration “may not sacrifice investment return or take on additional investment risk to promote any non-pecuniary factors” when it makes investments or proxy votes.