The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative relaunched on Wednesday with more than 250 members after a year-long suspension, but fewer U.S. companies signed up. Criticism from some Republican politicians that membership could breach antitrust rules had prompted the world’s biggest investor, BlackRock BLK-N, to leave NZAM in January last year, after which the group suspended all activity.
The group performed a six-month review before releasing a new “commitment statement” without an explicit requirement for members to align their investment portfolios with net-zero by 2050 or set a 2030 target.
In the months after BlackRock’s exit, a further 32 U.S. companies also left, including heavyweights Capital Group, JPMorgan Asset Management and Franklin Templeton.
Despite the new rules, only 12 U.S. companies rejoined, compared with 44 U.S. members at the time of the suspension. Others, such as State Street Investment Management and Wellington Management, signed up only for their European businesses.
“While some high-profile U.S. asset managers have stepped back, NZAM continues to have important U.S. signatories alongside strong participation across Europe, the U.K., Asia and the Pacific,” said a spokesperson for NZAM.
“We understand the environment we’re operating in and are pragmatic about the challenges.”
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Rebecca Mikula-Wright, chair of NZAM’s steering committee, said in a statement that the scale of support still sent a “strong signal” to clients, regulators and other stakeholders that members were focused on managing the climate challenge.
“The strong participation in today’s relaunch reflects the value NZAM signatories find in having a credible platform to demonstrate to their clients how they are addressing climate-related financial risks and capturing transition opportunities,” she said.
Under the new commitment statement, signatories would set targets independently and develop their own strategies to reduce the climate-damaging emissions linked to their investments and report progress annually.
“The new statement reflects the evolution of climate investing from an original focus on decarbonizing portfolios towards a broader set of approaches that includes decarbonization alongside transition investing, climate solutions, adaptation and resilience,” said Dan Grandage, chief sustainable investment officer at Aberdeen Investments.