Labor Department’s Pro-ESG 401(k) Rule Draws Support on Appeal

The Labor Department’s ESG-friendly retirement investing rule drew support from a group of blue state attorneys general, who told the Fifth Circuit the rule provides needed clarification that benefits investors and plan fiduciaries alike.

Permitting plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and corporate governance goals associated with various investments helps ensure “appropriate regulatory neutrality” and promotes decision-making that considers all factors relevant to risks and returns, the attorneys general for New York, California, and more than a dozen other states said Thursday in a brief filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The 2022 rule also ...