Asset AllocationMarch 23, 2016

Another Rockefeller Fund Divests from Fossil Fuels

The Rockefeller Family Fund also singled out ExxonMobil, whose stocks it liquidated “effective immediately.”

Reported by Featured Author

The Rockefeller Family Fund (RFF) announced Wednesday it will divest from fossil fuels “as quickly as possible” and eliminate holdings of ExxonMobil.

The $130 million public charity will excise holdings in all coal and oil sands companies outside of those held in portfolios overseen by outside managers. The goal is to keep exposures below 1% across the entire portfolio, RFF said.

“As a matter of good governance, we cannot be associated with a company exhibiting such apparent contempt for the public interest.”“While the global community works to eliminate the use of fossil fuels, it makes little sense—financially or ethically—to continue holding investments in these companies,” the family foundation wrote in a statement on its website.

The RFF accused ExxonMobil of “morally reprehensible conduct,” particularly its efforts to “confuse the public about climate change’s march.” The oil giant strengthened its infrastructure against climate change’s “destructive consequences,” the charity also claimed.

“As a matter of good governance, we cannot be associated with a company exhibiting such apparent contempt for the public interest,” it wrote.

RFF’s finance committee would also look for appropriate replacements to currently held commingled funds.

The endowment is managed by the finance committee, which is chaired by TIAA Asset Management’s CIO William Riegel. The fund is mainly managed by outside firms, including the Strategic Investment Group and GMO, RFF’s spokesperson told CIO.

RFF’s sister foundation, the $860 million Rockefeller Brother Fund, announced its divestment from coal and fossil fuel assets in 2014, vowing to keep exposures to less than 1% of the total portfolio by the end of the year.