(Texas Scorecard) – Five asset managers for the University of Texas and Texas A&M University’s investment management company supported shareholder resolutions to advance leftist ideology.
According to a report from the American Accountability Foundation, UT and Texas A&M investment company UTIMCO allocate some assets to the following entities: The Aperio Group, Cantillon, Generation Investment Management, GQG Partners, and JP Morgan Asset Management. The five manage about $4 billion for the universities as of July.
ESG and DEI-related votes violate “a long-standing policy that prohibits using the endowments’ economic power to advance social or political agendas,” UTIMCO told the Daily Caller.
AAF requested reports of proxy votes by UTIMCO or its asset managers in 2022 and 2023, finding 159 votes supporting “woke” policies.
“While reviewing all 159 problematic votes would be redundant, our research identified that the problematic votes primarily fall into five categories: racial and gender pay gap reports and audits, political contribution reports targeting conservatives, championing abortion rights, anti-oil and gas or ‘net zero’ resolutions, targeting Second Amendment rights, and pro-union proposals,” reads the report.
UTIMCO’s asset manager, GQG Partners, voted for a 2022 Johnson and Johnson resolution to “combat systemic racism” and conduct a “racial equity audit.”
Another vote by GQG Partners was in favor of a resolution at Meta Platforms to “issue a public report assessing the feasibility of diminishing the extent that the Company will be a target of abortion-related law enforcement requests.”
At a 2023 Raytheon Technologies shareholder meeting, UTIMCO’s asset manager, JP Morgan Asset Management, voted in favor of a resolution to “report on efforts to reduce GHG emissions in alignment with Paris agreement goal.”
“UTIMCO’s asset managers’ apparent promotion of leftist objectives, including ESG, is extremely troubling and contrary to Texas law banning boycotts and discrimination against fossil fuels,” State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) told Texas Scorecard. “The legislature must exercise oversight and hold UTIMCO accountable. Governmental bodies, including their proxies, should not pursue objectives that harm the Texas economy and go against our values.”
GQG Partners also voted for a resolution to assess whether The Cigna Group’s corporate values are in line with their political contributions—specifically targeting members of the Texas legislature who voted to end abortion in the state.
“The intent of these resolutions is ‘to force companies to name trade associations, think tanks, other nonprofits, political committees, and candidates they support, so the woke mob can later shame companies for supporting them,’” wrote AAF, quoting their report on the ESG movement.
UTIMCO’s asset manager, Generation Investment Management—co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore—voted for a Mastercard Incorporated resolution that the AAF says could lead to an invasion of privacy for lawful gun owners.
The group voted to establish a positive stance on a new merchant category code for banks to recognize standalone gun and ammunition store purchases to report certain purchasing activity as suspicious.
After finding the violative votes, UTIMCO said it has since modified its guidelines and will enforce them on its third-party investment managers before future proxy votes, revoking voting authority for those that don’t follow them, Daily Caller reported.
AAF’s report and the full list of 159 “woke” proxy votes can be found here.
