(Bloomberg) -- The Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System is yanking the $386 million it has invested with Ken Fisher after the billionaire made vulgar comments at an industry conference.
The move brings the total amount divested from Fisher Investments to more than $1.3 billion. Air Products & Chemical Inc. said earlier Friday that it was pulling $30 million from Fisher.
“It is our opinion that Mr. Fisher’s comments have damaged the credibility of the firm and its leadership,” the Iowa pension said in a statement. “As a result, the risk to IPERS is that the firm could lose investment talent, and/or it may be unable to recruit high caliber talent in the future.”
Fisher Investments is seeing a growing backlash since the firm’s founder made offensive comments about women, spoke of genitalia and then failed to immediately understand the gravity of his words. The Camas, Washington-based firm, which manages $112 billion, is also facing scrutiny from several other pensions which are examining their business with Fisher.
The Boston Pension Board on Oct. 16 yanked the $248 million it invested with Fisher after the Michigan Retirement Fund ended its relationship with the firm, which managed $600 million for the state. The Philadelphia Board of Pensions also plans to divest $54 million in assets from Fisher.
Air Products, founded in 1940, provides industrial gases and related equipment to many industries. The company in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, is the world’s leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.
Fisher Investments was managing about $10.9 billion on behalf of 36 state or municipal government entities, including pension plans, at the end of 2018, according to the firm’s Securities and Exchange Commission registration. That figure is down from $13.2 billion at the end of 2017.
At the Tiburon CEO Summit on Oct. 8, Fisher compared the process of gaining a client’s trust to “trying to get into a girl’s pants” and talked about genitalia. Fisher has apologized for the comments.
Here are the reactions from pensions and firms.
| Name | Investment (in millions) | Divesting | Reviewing | No Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan Retirement Fund | $600 | Yes | ||
| Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System | 386 | Yes | ||
| Boston Pension Board | 248 | Yes | ||
| Philadelphia Board of Pensions | 54 | Yes | ||
| Air Products Pension | 30 | Yes | ||
| Fidelity Investments | 500 | Yes | ||
| L.A. Fire and Police Pensions | 500 | Yes | ||
| New Hampshire Retirement System | 239 | Yes | ||
| Florida Board of Administration | 175 | Yes | ||
| Haverhill, Mass., Retirement Board | 13 | Yes | ||
| Kansas City, Mo., Public Schools Retirement System | 78 | Yes | ||
| Segal Marco Advisors | $1.35B* | Yes | ||
| Ohio Public Employees Retirement System | 839.5 | Yes | ||
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | 675 | Yes | ||
| Employees Retirement System of Texas | 300 | Yes |
Sources: Bloomberg, filing. *Fisher is 1 of 11 subadvisers
By Janet Lorin
Bloomberg News
