McRae: Woke Wall Street is gambling with your retirement
By Treasurer David McRae
Mississippians don’t save for retirement so their money can be used to push political agendas. They save so they can retire with security after a lifetime of hard work. That commonsense truth has been under attack from woke Wall Street firms (and Biden-era bureaucrats) who believe your retirement account should double as a political weapon.
Enough is enough.
For years, I have been a vocal critic of radical Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment mandates. This investing “strategy” puts politics above profit, jeopardizing the retirement accounts of millions of Americans.
Earlier this month, Mississippi’s Republican congressional delegation voted to pass the Protecting Prudent Investment of Retirement Savings Act. The legislation locks in President Trump’s executive order and restores a basic rule that should never have been questioned: fiduciaries must put returns first, manage risk responsibly, and leave politics out of retirement investing.
The Biden administration did the opposite. In 2022, it finalized a reckless rule that opened the floodgates for ESG investing. By doing so, they allowed Wall Street to force left-wing priorities, like radical climate policies and social engineering, into investment decisions, even when those priorities hurt the performance of retirement accounts.
New York elites may be able to afford bad returns. Mississippi families cannot.
As State Treasurer, I have been vocal in opposing ESG. Early in my tenure, I took steps to protect Mississippi’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) from ESG influence. State employees and retirees earned their benefits through years of service. They deserve to know their money is being invested to grow, not to make a political statement.
The Radical Left likes to pretend ESG is harmless. The facts say otherwise. ESG policies have driven capital away from reliable energy, raised costs for families, and injected instability into markets. Worse, they allow unelected actors to reshape the economy without ever answering to voters. That should concern every Mississippian, regardless of party.
The Protecting Prudent Investment of Retirement Savings Act draws a bright line. Retirement savings are not a slush fund for woke causes. They are not leverage for social experiments. They are the hard-earned money of people who expect honesty, prudence, and results.
The legislation passed the House, despite Mississippi’s lone Democrat, Bennie Thompson, voting against it. Nonetheless, I sincerely thank Mississippi’s Republican congressional delegation and President Trump for standing firm in support of workers and retirees.
Americans do not ask for special treatment. They ask for fairness. Protecting retirement savings from political interference is not extreme. It is responsible. And it is long overdue.
Mississippi Treasurer David McRae is the 55th Treasurer for the State of Mississippi. In this role, he helps manage the state’s cash flow, oversees College and Career Savings Mississippi, and has returned more than $140 million in unclaimed money to Mississippians. For more information, visit Treasury.MS.gov.
