New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has recommended that three of the city’s pension funds re-evaluate mandates currently managed by BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and PanAgora.

The recommendation focuses on concerns related to climate planning, escalation and voting alignment. If adopted, the decision could affect up to $42.3 billion in assets.

Key takeaways

• NYC Comptroller proposes cutting mandates with BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora over climate and stewardship concerns
• The review focuses on decarbonisation planning, escalation activity and alignment between stated policies and voting outcomes
• The mandates under review span managers of different sizes, from the world’s largest asset manager to mid-sized active firms
• BlackRock has issued a detailed response, while Fidelity and PanAgora have not commented publicly
   

What happened?

On 26 November 2025, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander released an update to the city’s Net Zero Implementation Plan recommending that three pension funds re-bid or terminate mandates with BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora.

Lander argued that all three firms fell short of the systems’ expectations on climate alignment. His statement said that “46 out of 49 public markets managers” met the required decarbonisation criteria but BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora did not.

He also criticised BlackRock’s decision to restrict certain stewardship activities in the United States, describing this as an “abdication of financial duty”.

The mandates under review represent a significant spread of manager types:

• BlackRock manages more than $10 trillion globally and is a core provider of index and active strategies to US pension systems
• Fidelity Investments manages approximately $4.5 trillion across mutual funds, retirement platforms and institutional mandates
• PanAgora Asset Management is a mid-sized quantitative manager with roughly $30 billion in assets under management

This variation underscores that climate stewardship expectations are being applied across the market, from the largest index providers to smaller active managers.

BlackRock issued a public response stating that the recommendation “politicises public pension funds and undermines the retirement security of hardworking New Yorkers” and emphasised that it provides a broad range of client-directed approaches.
Source: BlackRock statement, 26 November 2025

Fidelity Investments and PanAgora have not released public statements to date.

The pension boards will review the recommendation, and any reallocation decision will rest with the trustees. 

Why this matters for investors

The NYC review highlights how climate and stewardship factors are increasingly assessed alongside traditional performance criteria in mandate evaluations.

Three themes are notable:

1. Asset owners are examining evidence rather than statements

The review focused on decarbonisation plans, escalation activity, voting records and consistency between firm level policies and fund level delivery.

These are practical indicators of how managers approach climate risk.

2. Climate alignment is becoming part of routine mandate oversight

The NYC review fits within a broader trend in which asset owners periodically assess stewardship delivery as part of investment discipline.

This is not limited to specialist ESG mandates but applies across standard equity strategies. These case studies show that mandate decisions now integrate emissions reporting, transition planning and stewardship quality into standard due diligence for managers of all sizes.

3. Climate and stewardship expectations now apply across manager sizes

Large reallocations in recent years have involved major global managers, but this case shows similar expectations being applied to mid-sized firms such as PanAgora. 

This broadens the relevance of climate alignment beyond a small set of headline names.

Recommendations for asset managers

The NYC review reinforces that asset owners assess climate and stewardship delivery through observable evidence, not high level commitments. In mandate renewals and searches, managers that can demonstrate:

• Clear decarbonisation plans
• Consistent voting aligned with stated policies
• Documented escalation with companies
• Transparent reporting on outcomes
• Credible data supporting their climate approach

are better positioned to meet evolving expectations.

Across both large global firms and mid-sized managers, cases such as this highlight that asset owners value sustained, verifiable implementation of climate and stewardship frameworks. 

Managers that can evidence this through data and practice, rather than principle alone, are more resilient in competitive evaluations.

Protect your mandates with credible ESG & Climate intelligence

As pension funds strengthen their climate and stewardship expectations, advantage is shifting toward managers that can pair strong investment capability with transparent data, robust engagement evidence and clear decarbonisation planning. 

The NYC review shows that these factors are now assessed across managers of all sizes, from large index providers to mid-sized active firms. 

Managers that can demonstrate consistent, data backed delivery on climate and stewardship expectations are better positioned to retain and win institutional mandates.