FIduciary Responsibility of Fiscal Officials Defended by CT Treasurer and Colleagues

Connecticut State Treasurer Erick Russell has joined a coalition of 17 financial officers—including state and big city treasurers, comptrollers, controllers, and auditors—in signing a letter urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda and the Department of Labor (DOL) Acting Secretary Vince Micone to oppose a recent request by Republican state finance officials that the SEC and DOL ban investment managers and retirement plans from factoring broad categories of risks into decision-making processes.

“Treasurers have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure that investments yield strong, long-term returns for our beneficiaries, including teachers and retirees,” Russell said. “Forbidding investment managers from assessing real-world risks—whether they stem from supply chain disruptions, environmental instability, shifting consumer demand, or any other factor— would restrict their ability to fully analyze investment opportunities and inherently runs counter to that fiduciary responsibility. That’s why my colleagues and I are urging the SEC and DOL to reject this dangerous political proposal.”

The letter comes in response to a January 28, 2025, letter from fellow state financial officers, and it challenges their false and incorrect claims. In this response letter, the group of financial officers call on the SEC Acting Chairman and DOL Acting Secretary to not impose politically-motivated barriers and to protect the ability of the professionals—who manage millions of Americans’ financial accounts—to serve the interests of hardworking everyday Americans.

Restrictions on fiduciaries “would put American workers and retirees at a significant disadvantage” and “U.S. retirement funds could become less competitive and more vulnerable to market disruptions… Ensuring that fiduciaries can operate with the full breadth of risk assessment tools available is essential to maintaining trust in our financial system and safeguarding the future of America’s retirees.”

The letter also notes that fiduciaries should be allowed to consider long-term financial risks because retirement investments are built over a lifetime and require a “multi-decade approach to investment risk” to ensure that the hard-earned money from Americans remains resilient, secure, and ready to collect.

Other area financial leaders signing the letter include James Diossa (Rhode Island State Treasurer), Deborah B. Goldberg, (Massachusetts State Treasurer and Receiver-General), Mike Pieciak, (Vermont State Treasurer), and Brad Lander (New York City Comptroller).

The full text of the letter and all signers can be found here.