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October 19, 2019 at 09:23 AM
An Iowa pension fund is joining other organizations and pulling its assets out of Fisher Investments roughly a week after Chairman Ken Fisher made lewd remarks at an industry event.
With the move by Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System to divest $386 million and a similar step by Air Products & Chemical, the total redemptions from Fisher Investments have topped $1.3 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.
“It is our opinion that Mr. Fisher’s comments have damaged the credibility of the firm and its leadership,” the Iowa pension said in a statement shared with Bloomberg. “As a result, the risk to IPERS is that the firm could lose investment talent, and/or it may be unable to recruit high caliber talent in the future.”
Earlier in the week, the Boston Pension Board redeemed $248 million from Fisher Investments, following a move by Michigan’s pension fund to pull $600 million.
The firm, founded by Fisher in 1979, manages about $114 billion in assets as of September, according to a recent interview with its chairman. Its latest regulatory filing from May lists assets of $94 billion.
Fidelity Investments announced several days ago that it does not tolerate “these types of comments … and Fidelity Strategic Advisers is reviewing this relationship,” Bloomberg reported. Fidelity Strategic Advisers oversees managed accounts and lists Fisher as a $500 million subadvisor for its $8 billion Small-Mid Cap Fund.
