Key Takeaways
- • New York City's pension systems, with nearly $300 billion in assets, reported in their Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Climate Reports that BlackRock and Fidelity remain "insufficiently aligned" with the city's net zero expectations.
- • PanAgora has strengthened its approach to better align with the pension systems' expectations, according to the reports.
- • The pension systems cut their portfolio greenhouse gas emissions footprint by a 48.13% weighted average for Scope 1 and 2 financed emissions by the end of fiscal 2025, well ahead of interim targets toward the 2040 net zero goal.
- • The public pension systems posted a 10.3% net return in 2025 while achieving their decarbonization results, per the Comptroller's office.
- • The reassessment follows former Comptroller Brad Lander's 2025 recommendation to drop roughly $42 billion in mandates with BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora, which could lead to re-bids or terminations.
Summary
New York City's pension funds have reported that asset managers BlackRock and Fidelity remain "insufficiently aligned" with the system's net zero expectations, a finding that could lead the public pension system to re-bid or terminate their mandates. The assessment appears in the NYC pension funds' Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Climate Reports. The city's pension funds, which include the New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS), and the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS), represent nearly $300 billion in assets. The Comptroller serves as investment advisor to and custodian of the funds' assets. In 2022, the pension boards launched a Net Zero Implementation Plan with a goal of net zero emissions by 2040 and a requirement that asset managers submit net zero plans in 2025.
The new assessment follows a recommendation by former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander in 2025 that the funds drop investment mandates worth $42 billion with BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora. Lander's recommendation focused largely on how the managers have complied with the Trump administration's new SEC reporting requirements, which he said led BlackRock and Fidelity to adopt more restrictive approaches to engagement and proxy voting than other large asset managers. BlackRock responded at the time that the Comptroller's statements were "another instance of the politicization of public pension funds, which undermines the retirement security of hardworking New Yorkers." In the new report, PanAgora was found to have strengthened its approach, while BlackRock and Fidelity "are still assessed as insufficiently aligned."
The reports also highlighted progress toward climate goals. According to the Comptroller's office, the three pension systems achieved a 48.13% weighted average reduction in Scope 1 and 2 financed greenhouse gas emissions by the end of fiscal 2025. Since the end of 2019, TRS, NYCERS and BERS reduced financed emissions intensity in their public equity and corporate bond portfolios by 49%, 46.68% and 45.72%, respectively, beating their 2025 targets of 32%, 32% and 22%. The systems also posted a 10.3% net return in 2025 while achieving these decarbonization results.
NYC Comptroller Mark Levine said: "The climate crisis has a direct impact on our global economy, and our pension systems are doing the hard work of protecting retirees while advancing a transition to a low-carbon economy. The progress laid out in this report is a reflection of the important role that reducing emissions exposure, investing in the clean energy transition, and holding companies accountable plays in smart pension management."
The new assessment follows a recommendation by former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander in 2025 that the funds drop investment mandates worth $42 billion with BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora. Lander's recommendation focused largely on how the managers have complied with the Trump administration's new SEC reporting requirements, which he said led BlackRock and Fidelity to adopt more restrictive approaches to engagement and proxy voting than other large asset managers. BlackRock responded at the time that the Comptroller's statements were "another instance of the politicization of public pension funds, which undermines the retirement security of hardworking New Yorkers." In the new report, PanAgora was found to have strengthened its approach, while BlackRock and Fidelity "are still assessed as insufficiently aligned."
The reports also highlighted progress toward climate goals. According to the Comptroller's office, the three pension systems achieved a 48.13% weighted average reduction in Scope 1 and 2 financed greenhouse gas emissions by the end of fiscal 2025. Since the end of 2019, TRS, NYCERS and BERS reduced financed emissions intensity in their public equity and corporate bond portfolios by 49%, 46.68% and 45.72%, respectively, beating their 2025 targets of 32%, 32% and 22%. The systems also posted a 10.3% net return in 2025 while achieving these decarbonization results.
NYC Comptroller Mark Levine said: "The climate crisis has a direct impact on our global economy, and our pension systems are doing the hard work of protecting retirees while advancing a transition to a low-carbon economy. The progress laid out in this report is a reflection of the important role that reducing emissions exposure, investing in the clean energy transition, and holding companies accountable plays in smart pension management."
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