'Money talks': A $1.2 trillion fund manager is about to pull investment from companies that won't act on climate change

Gian-Reto Tarnutzer/Unsplash

• A UK firm managing assets of $1.2 trillion will pull its investment from companies that fail to act on climate change.
• Helena Morrissey, head of personal investing at Legal and General, said they will be "naming and shaming" these companies next month.
• "There comes a time when talk is over, and it's time to vote with our feet… Money talks as they say," said Morrissey.

LONDON - Legal and General, which oversees more than $1.2 trillion in assets, said it would punish companies with a bad record on climate change and strip them of their funding.

Helena Morrissey, head of personal investing, said the firm will be "naming and shaming" companies that have failed to act on climate change next week, and pull investments from those companies.

"There comes a time when talk is over, and it's time to vote with our feet. Money talks as they say," Morrissey said at a conference in London on Monday.

She emphasised the need for the financial sector to work together, driving change through sustainable investments, and said that these investments can produce both "profit and purpose."

Many individuals don't invest in the market because of fear their money will be used for purposes they disagree with, Morrissey said. She suggested sustainable investing as a solution.

"Legal and General runs almost a trillion pounds of money so we are doing a lot with that. But if we add all our trillions together, we can certainly drive change."