An assessment of the proxy voting guidelines of US public pension funds by environmental group Sierra Club has awarded its only A ranking to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Sierra Club, which had previously rated US public pension funds in its annual ’Hidden Risk in State Pensions’ report, released the analysis in its new interactive tracker, which will be updated regularly as pensions change their guidelines or publish new information.
The tracker analyses the proxy voting guidelines, proxy voting records, and voting transparency of 32 of the largest US public pension funds, which collectively represent more than US$3.8 trillion AUM. The scope includes state pension funds, county and city pension funds, including pension funds located in states restricting ESG investing through legislation and executive actions.
Sierra Club said New York State Common Retirement Fund had ‘strong’ voting guidelines across systemic risk, climate-related director votes, climate-related shareholder resolutions, climate lobbying and political contributions, and nature-related votes.
Five funds were ranked B for the proxy voting guidelines: Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds; Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management; New York City Public Pension Funds; California Public Employees’ Retirement System; and Vermont Pension Investment Commission.
Since the publication of its latest annual report in February 2025, Sierra Club said only Vermont had “significantly” increased the ambition of its climate-related proxy voting guidelines.
Pension staff and boards typically recommend updates to their proxy voting guidelines based on outcomes from engagement during corporate shareholder meetings earlier in the year. So far in 2025, six public pensions have updated their proxy voting guidelines or investment policies: Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, Indiana Public Retirement System, the Public School Retirement System of Missouri, Virginia Retirement System, and Vermont.
The tracker also references where pensions have adopted the latest guidelines of their proxy advisors.
“To protect their portfolios, public pensions must advocate for corporate climate action guided by credible and measurable strategies. Disclosure is not enough — any strategy that does not push for real-world emissions reductions and robust protections for nature, workers, and communities falls short,” said Allie Lindstrom, Senior Strategist with the Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance campaign.
