Global asset manager Invesco has withdrawn from Climate Action 100+, a climate-focused investor network focused on engaging with companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and implement climate transition plans.

The firm’s withdrawal forms the latest in a growing series of investors who have recently chosen to exit the group, which now include JPMorgan Asset Management (JPMAM), State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), and PIMCO, while BlackRock also revealed that it has transferred its participation in the initiative to BlackRock International.

In a statement provided by the firm to ESG Today, an Invesco spokesperson said:

“After careful consideration, Invesco has decided to withdraw from the Climate Action 100+ initiative as we believe our clients’ interests in this area are better served through our existing investor-led and client-centric issuer engagement approach.”

Launched in 2017, Climate Action 100+ is an investor initiative that has targeted the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters to promote taking necessary action on climate change, and align their business strategies with net zero in order to help limit average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The network has grown to include more than 700 investors representing more than $68 trillion in assets.

The group, however, has also become a key target for anti-ESG politicians, and fueling claims that its members are “boycotting” energy companies. Last year, a group of U.S. Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to large asset managers warning that participation in groups such as CA100+ raised concerns about the investors’ adherence to fiduciary duties and compliance with anti-trust rules.

Similarly, Texas cited participation in Climate Action 100+ as part of the criteria used by the state to compile a list of “Financial Companies that Boycott Energy Companies,” which it cited in its placement of a series of asset managers for divestment.

Following the exit of JPMAM, SSGA and PIMCO, and BlackRock’s transfer to its international unit, Climate Action 100+ issued a statement saying that the organization is “disappointed to see them go,” but noting that “hundreds of investor signatories remain committed to ensuring 170 of the largest greenhouse gas emitters reduce emissions, improve governance, and strengthen climate-related financial disclosures.”

Climate Action 100+ added:

“Investors participating in Climate Action 100+ and engaging with companies do so to manage risk and opportunity to preserve long-term shareholder value for their clients and beneficiaries, in line with their fiduciary duties.  

“Importantly, all participating investors are independent fiduciaries responsible for their own investment and voting decisions, and they agree to always act independently in setting strategies, policies and practices and deciding whether and how to engage with focus companies based on their own understanding of their best interests. It is also a matter for individual signatories to make their own decisions regarding ongoing participation in the initiative.”