HB 2862: West Virginia Requires State Investment Boards to Consider Solely Pecuniary Interests, Not ESG Interests

Summary
HB 2862 was passed in March 2023 and requires that all shareholder votes be cast solely in the pecuniary interests of the beneficiaries. The law prohibits the West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments (BTI) and the West Virginia Investment Management Board (IMB) from casting or authorizing a fiduciary to cast any shareholder vote for the purpose of furthering non-pecuniary interests. The law specifies that ESG and similar considerations are not pecuniary factors unless a prudent investor would determine that it directly or materially affects financial risk or return.