Federated Hermes to end sponsorship of US anti-ESG treasurers’ group

Investment manager Federated Hermes has confirmed that it will not be renewing its sponsorship of the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) following criticism from Danish pension funds and activist groups.

SFOF, a US Republican group of state treasurers and auditors, has adopted an anti-ESG stance, recently criticising the Securities and Exchange Commission for attempting to become a “climate regulator”.

Federated Hermes is a global investment manager with assets under management of $632bn. It has been an SFOF sponsor for at least five years, but will not be renewing this relationship.

“These things come up for annual revision. We will not be renewing our membership and our sponsorship of that organisation,” said Dennis Gepp, managing director and chief investment officer for cash at Federated Hermes.

Gepp, who was speaking in the UK at the Local Authority Treasurers Investment Forum on 13 September, said that Federated Hermes “normally preferred to maintain a regular and healthy client dialogue”.

SFOF recently removed all sponsor logos from its website.