PLANADVISER Turns to Brad Campbell for Insight on ESG’s Influence on Proxy Voting

PLANADVISER reported that, on Oct. 13, the Employee Benefits Security Administration proposed rules that put environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors back into fiduciary investment analysis. Benefits and executive compensation partner Brad Campbell discussed the impact of this proposal on proxy voting and plan advisers.

Campbell said that the new proposal allows fiduciaries to decide whether any factor they’re reviewing, including ESG factors, is material.

“The Department of Labor is not going to tell you that there’s a special fiduciary process for ESG and just ESG,” Campbell stated. “Instead, what the current proposal does is revert back to what has been true throughout ERISA’s history, which is fiduciaries and investment professionals deciding what investments are appropriate for plans.”