The financial hit that Ken Fisher is taking is approaching $1 billion.
The city of Boston has joined two other government pensions in yanking money from Fisher Investments.
“Boston will not invest in companies led by people who treat women like commodities,” Mayor Martin Walsh said in a statement Wednesday. “Reports of Ken Fisher’s comments and poor judgment are incredibly disturbing.” The city’s pension board will pull $248 million.
Fisher Investments is seeing a growing backlash since the firm’s founder made offensive comments about women, spoke of genitalia and then failed to immediately understand the gravity of his words. The firm, which manages $112 billion, is also facing scrutiny from several other pension funds which are examining their business with Fisher.
The State of Michigan Retirement Fund’s pension account ended its relationship with Fisher’s firm, which managed $600 million for the state. The Philadelphia Board of Pensions also plans to divest $54 million in assets from Fisher.
Fisher Investments was managing about $10.9 billion on behalf of 36 state or municipal government entities, including pension plans, at the end of 2018, according to the firm’s Securities and Exchange Commission registration. That figure is down from $13.2 billion at the end of 2017.
Fisher made his comments during an appearance at the Tiburon CEO Summit, sparking the ire of those in attendance. Fisher has apologized as did the organizer of the event.
Here are the reactions from pensions and firms.
Michigan Retirement Fund
Investment: $600 million
Status: Divesting
Boston Pension Board
Investment: $248 million
Status: Divesting
Philadelphia Board of Pensions
Investment: $54 million
Status: Divesting
Fidelity Investments
Investment: $500 million
Status: Reviewing
Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System
Investment: $386 million
Status: Reviewing
Florida Board of Administration
Investment: $175 million
Status: Reviewing
Haverhill, Mass., Retirement Board
Investment: $13 million
Status: Reviewing
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Investment: $676 million
Status: No comment
Employees Retirement System of Texas
Investment: $300 million
Status: No comment
Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
Investment: $839.5 million
Status: No comment
Source: Bloomberg
--With assistance from Miles Weiss, John Gittelsohn, Sridhar Natarajan and Annie Massa.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.