The Dutch pension fund for the health care industry, Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzij, known as PFZW, has terminated BlackRock Inc., AQR Capital Management LLC and Legal & General Investment Management as equity managers.
“PFZW has been developing a new investment strategy where financial performance, risk and sustainability are weighed equally within the framework of a total portfolio approach,” a spokesperson for PFZW said.
Spokespeople for the fund told Dutch publication NRC that the fund removed thousands of companies in which it had invested as it makes a switch from a largely index-based passive equity portfolio to an actively managed one, in order to gain more insights into and influence over the companies in which it invests.
The fund will continue to use several managers across its 50-billion-euro ($58.37 billion) equity portfolio, including internal asset manager PGGM, Lazard, UBS, M&G, Robeco, Man Numeric, Acadian and Schroders. PFZW completed the selection process for its external managers in the first half of 2024 and began executing mandates in January.
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“We have appointed external managers whom we believe are best positioned to carry out PFZW’s assignment under the Investment Policy 2030: delivering market-based returns for a good pension, with an appropriate risk profile and a desired level of sustainability,” a spokesperson for PFZW said.
PZFW, which manages 247 billion euros in assets, will continue to invest with BlackRock through a money market fund.
“BlackRock clients—including our Dutch clients—continue to invest through BlackRock to meet their sustainable investing goals, entrusting us to manage over $1 trillion in sustainable and transition assets on their behalf,” a spokesperson for BlackRock said. The spokesperson said the firm noted PFZW’s redemption in the first half of the year.
NRC reported that PFZW’s discussions with American asset managers on the topic of sustainability became difficult, and firms did not want to face pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump, one increasingly hostile to such investing initiatives. The publication noted these managers were also more hesitant to vote shareholder proxies in favor of sustainability resolutions at shareholder meetings.
“PFZW have always voted their portfolio with BlackRock themselves,” the BlackRock spokesperson said. “For eligible clients who wish to participate in the stewardship of their assets, we have built the industry’s largest voting choice program, as well as a climate and decarbonization stewardship program for those clients who choose to prioritize those investment outcomes.”
A spokesperson for L&G emphasized its sustainability bona fides.
“L&G is a committed global leader in responsible investment,” the spokesperson said. “It is central to the way we drive long-term value creation for our clients, which is why we incorporate it into our investment decisions and stewardship activities. This includes our ongoing work with clients like PGGM, where our relationship remains as strong as ever across asset classes including in other sustainable investment strategies.”
Under the Dutch Pensions Act, pension funds in the Netherlands are required to report how their investment policies consider environmental, social and governance factors.
BlackRock faces criticism from both proponents and opponents of sustainable and responsible investing, and the $11 trillion asset manager has become a target both as a firm not doing enough to support sustainable initiatives and as one pushing a climate-focused agenda.
Earlier this year, BlackRock and several other asset managers left the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, which sought to achieve net-zero portfolio emissions among its members. BlackRock’s exit was one of the last before the initiative was frozen.
As a result, Dutch pension fund PME Pensioenfonds announced it would review the 5 billion euros it had invested with BlackRock. The pension fund has stated that a decision about its continued work with the manager would be made this year.
Meanwhile, BlackRock’s one-time membership in NZAM and similar initiatives was a sufficient reason for some state and federal U.S. lawmakers and asset owners to put the asset manager on notice or divest from it completely. The Texas comptroller’s office, in June, removed BlackRock from a list of companies alleged to boycott the oil and gas industry. BlackRock was also named in a multi-state lawsuit, along with State Street and Vanguard, alleging the trio conspired to suppress the coal market.
The Indiana Public Retirement System terminated BlackRock as a fixed-income manager in December 2024 to follow state law after it was determined asset manager had ESG commitments—despite INPRS staff noting no concerns with the performance of BlackRock’s fixed-income strategy.
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Tags: BlackRock, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), PFZW
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