Alaska Commissioner of Revenue Adam Crum joined 25 other state financial officers this week in a pointed letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, warning that major asset managers are straying from traditional fiduciary responsibilities in pursuit of political and social agendas.
Crum, who recently submitted his resignation from the Dunleavy administration and is expected to file for governor in 2026, signed on to the letter as part of a broader push by conservative-leaning state officials to clamp down on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment strategies.
Crum is the national vice chairman of the State Financial Officers Foundation, which sent the letter, and speaks at the group’s events.
“As financial officers entrusted with safeguarding our states’ public funds, we write to express our deep concern about the erosion of traditional fiduciary duty in American capital markets,” the letter begins. It argues that large financial firms—BlackRock chief among them—have increasingly used passive investment vehicles like index funds to engage in corporate activism that strays beyond “materiality and positive financial return.”
The letter cites a January 2025 federal court ruling in Spence v. American Airlines, which found that the airline violated its fiduciary duty by allowing BlackRock to vote proxies in favor of ESG priorities. “The very occurrence of this case illustrates just how far fiduciary standards have splintered,” the officers wrote.
The multi-state coalition is urging BlackRock and similar firms to adopt five specific reforms:
- Stop using deterministic assumptions, such as fake inevitable climate catastrophe, to justify activist corporate engagement.
- Refrain from using passive investment funds as proxy activism, arguing that such vehicles are designed for low-cost market exposure, not ideological influence.
- Avoid inflicting international globalist political agendas into investment strategies, including net-zero mandates or EU regulatory frameworks.
- Publish clear and shareholder-value-focused proxy voting guidelines, free from environmental or social targets.
- Disclose all affiliations with coalitions like Climate Action 100+, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), or the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), which may steer firms toward ideological goals.
“Fiduciary duty has long been a critical safeguard that facilitated efficient capital allocation grounded in financial merit rather than political ideology,” the officials wrote, calling for a return to traditional standards and warning against speculative, politically motivated investment strategies.
Crum’s participation in the letter comes as he transitions out of public office. Crum has served as Commissioner of Revenue since 2022, following his term as Commissioner of Health and Social Services.
The letter requests a formal response from BlackRock by Sept. 1, 2025, and invites further dialogue between the firm and state financial officers. It concludes with a warning: “Our public servants, retirees, and taxpayers deserve nothing less” than a financial system rooted in “financial integrity, not political advocacy.”
Whether BlackRock will respond, of course, is questionable. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management company, with $11.5 trillion in assets under management as of 2024. That is its total value of investments it manages for clients, including institutional, intermediary, and individual investors across various asset classes like equity, fixed income, multi-assets, alternatives, and cash management. The company, which operates in 30 countries with 70 offices and serves clients in 100 countries, has a portfolio is roughly equivalent to half the Gross Domestic Product of the United States (2024 U.S. GDP was around $25.5 trillion) and significantly larger than the GDP of almost all other countries.
In 2022, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, also now on the verge of announcing his run for govern, joined a 21-state coalition to file a formal complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission about its proposed rule requiring ESG influence in investing decisions.
In other words how dare you use science to make investment strategies, you should do as we want. Meanwhile the Insurance Companies are denying claims, running out of money, and claiming whatever they can to deny people’s claims. Even the oil companies have papers that show the effects of climate change coming from their industry. The GOP just ignores it and hope it all goes away as they make their fortunes.
Because too many times “science” has been proven to be bogus and the “scientists” have been motivated by greed and/or power. For every study that shows some catastrophic end of the world scenario, there are many others that show it differently. But if you are promulgating a scientific idea or theory, it behooves you to go along with the party line or you lose your financial backing. How this whole thing became a partisan issue is a little mysterious until you dig a little deeper.
AFF your comments baffle the brain, Black rock is so huge it’s become an evil weapon, $14 trillion in value at last count, Larry fink is a real fink. On your bizarre change of direction on climate change let me tell you the United States is 333 million people that for the most part live very cleanly compared to 2 billion Chinese and 2.5 billion Indians who have no environmental regulations whatsoever, The US isn’t a drop in the bucket on the climate change issue, if you have a way to control Asia and their filth I would suggest you get with it as for maiming America you can stick it. Americans have always advanced as fast as technology allowed. In fact on the electric car situation we advanced to fast as there is no way to recycle the millions of tons of batteries as of yet. I have faith that some smart people will figure that out before long. The climate on this planet has been volatile since the day it was created in 50 years you and I will be dust I would not worry about it much.
We now have some very educated, intelligent candidates running on the Republican ticket for Governor. The uneducated, lazy ones, including RINOs, will be eaten alive and pushed aside by the aforementioned smart ones.
A great field is emerging.
Private investors direct capital for the greatest return taking “fake” climate change and “Woke” into consideration, not what bureaucrats with agendas ask for.
You have to wonder what ever happened to the Federal trade commission?? $14 trillion businesses are a danger. A big danger.
Great for Mr Crum. Whatever your political leaning might be, Black Rock has drunk the Kool Aid and it isn’t sitting well.
Crum, the Peoples’ Populist, aren’t you and your mob the poster children for decades of “straying from traditional fiduciary responsibilities in pursuit of political and social agendas”?
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What have you actually done that didn’t involve “straying from traditional fiduciary responsibilities in pursuit of political and social agendas”?
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Are you not satisfied, Crum, that Alaska’s now considered a purple state because your lot got so good at “straying from traditional fiduciary responsibilities in pursuit of political and social agendas”?
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You and your mob can’t even get a budget together, salvage the education industry, restore election-system integrity, restore judicial-system integrity, commission an outside forensic audit of state finances, or restore public-health system credibility, all of which rather proves you’ve no clue what fiduciary responsibility means.
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Such a track record sprinkled with a generous dash of arrogance and stupidity qualifies you to lecture BlackRock, a major investor who could buy and sell toy soldiers like you, about fiduciary responsibility?
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Won’t you be doing the idiot dance, Crum, when Larry Fink says mind your own damned Dark Money business and get back to me when you “adopt” the Five Commandments where you work.
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Yeah, you’ll make a fine blue-state governor, Crum.
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Forgive us for hoping you do it somewhere else.