U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) is taking another step toward protecting Americans' retirement funds from ESG — environmental, social and governance — standards which have been found to prioritize woke policies that often see a reduced return on investment.
Dubbed the "Providing Complete Information To Retirement Investors Act," the legislation put forward by Banks would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to warn participants before making potentially making risky investment decisions, such as in ESG investments, through a brokerage window to ensure Americans have the full picture of their financial decisions and what consequences may follow depending on where and with whom they entrust their retirement funds.
The bill would require a four-part pop-up warning to be displayed to ERISA participants before investing in a brokerage window to include:
1. The participant may choose to construct a retirement savings portfolio from designated investment alternatives prudently selected and monitored by a plan fiduciary. In choosing and monitoring the designated investment alternatives, the plan’s fiduciary considers the risk of loss and the opportunity for gain (or other return) compared with reasonably available alternatives.
2. The plan’s brokerage window is not a designated investment alternative, and the investments available within the window have not been prudently selected and are not monitored by any plan fiduciary.
3. Depending on the investment selected, a participant may experience diminished returns, higher fees, or greater investment risk through the brokerage window.
4. The participant should be presented with comparative hypothetical balances of the participant’s balance projected to age 70 based on different net returns of 4%, 6%, and 8%.
"When it comes to making smart investment decisions, American retirees and workers deserve to be armed with the fullest information possible," Rep. Banks said of his legislation that comes at a critical economic time for Americans, one in which every decision is important and those planning for retirement are especially seeking to ensure their investments are as sound as possible. "My bill would ensure that ERISA participants are fully aware of the financial risks associated with ESG before they choose how to invest their hard-earned savings," added Banks.
As Townhall has reported previously, states such as Kentucky and Missouri have taken action to prevent ESG policies from tainting their state retirement funds, important work to slow asset managers that push an agenda with ESG standards, an end-run around Congress to force companies to go woke beyond what is statutorily required.
In addition, other states including Oklahoma have taken steps to prevent ESG-pushing firms from doing business with state entities via boycotts due to the policies that seek to sabotage the energy industry in the Sooner State.
What has become clear in the fight against ESG is that, thanks to the work of groups such as Consumers' Research, the more Americans learn about ESG and the entities or figures trying to force such standards on Americans and their finances, the less they like what ESG seeks to do.