Insights

Morning Consult: Root Out This Rot: Special Interests in Attorneys General Offices

Patomak Senior Advisor Luther Strange opines, “Just as there is no free lunch in life, there’s no free legal support under this NYU scheme. Instead, these lawyers are paid for, and subject to influence by, special interests to pursue specific policy goals. In fact, under the agreements in question the State AG office must regularly report back to the NYU Center on the activities of the SAAG and must “collaborate” with the Center on public announcements relating to environmental issues the SAAG worked on. This arrangement exposes the heart of the problem. The NYU scheme allows climate activists to carry out their agenda under the authority of state governments, with zero transparency into who is paying for what.”
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By: Patomak Global Partners

Barron’s: ESG Investing Suffers a Setback in California

Barron’s reporter Vito Raccanelli writes “A funny thing happened recently in the left-leaning Golden State. In a board election last month, members of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or Calpers, the biggest pension fund in the nation, threw out their president and gave ESG investing a bloody nose… “It’s too early to tell if this election will have ramifications beyond Calpers,” says Paul Atkins, CEO of Patomak Global Partners and a Republican SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008. “But a lot of funds are already using ESG, and investors don’t know to what extent they are using it.”
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By: Patomak Global Partners

WSJ: California Public Employees Vote Against Pension-Fund Activism

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System this month said no thank you to pension-fund activism. Government workers unseated Priya Mathur, the sitting Calpers president. She was defeated by Jason Perez, a police-union official who criticized Ms. Mathur’s focus on environmental, social and governance investing, or ESG. Mr. Perez emphasizes the agency’s fiduciary duty to maximize investor returns.

RealClearMarkets: Why Judges Aren’t Buying Cities’ Climate Change Lawsuits

Patomak Senior Adviser Luther Strange opines in RealClearMarkets: Climate change is a serious issue that impacts every person, deserving a serious public-policy debate through our democratic process… Lawsuits will not develop sound public policy, and they will certainly not halt climate change. And the reality that two federal judges have now dismissed city climate cases should send a strong message to other local leaders: the courts are not the proper place to make climate policy.

P&I Commentary: Public Pension Funds Must Not Divest from Reality

Paul Atkins writes in an opinion piece exclusive to Pensions & Investments: “Pension funds must invest long-term to meet the anticipated needs of retirees. Every dollar counts, and long-term growth is essential, especially because markets do not always go up. Managing other people's money is not a trivial pursuit — it demands prudence, patience and perception, not political gamesmanship. “

P&I: Wary Investors Applauding SEC Call to Examine Stock Buybacks

Pensions & Investments reporter Hazel Bradford writes: …Former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins, CEO of Patomak Global Partners LLC, a Washington financial consulting firm, said that post-tax reform, companies are supporting economic growth in several ways, such as distributing cash through buybacks to shareholders, including those in and saving for retirement. "Buybacks are a basic function of capital markets that drive reinvestment. Share buybacks benefit those very shareholders, seniors and the broader economy," Mr. Atkins said.

Materiality: A Bedrock Principle Protecting Legitimate Shareholder Interests Against Disguised Political Agendas

In a 2013 Harvard Business Law Review article, Patomak Global Partners CEO Paul Atkins examines the concept of materiality in a paper titled, "Materiality: A Bedrock Principle Protecting Legitimate Shareholder Interests Against Disguised Political…