Trillium Asset Management

In August 2022, Texas placed one or more funds from Trillium Asset Management on its List of Financial Companies that Boycott Energy Companies list. The Comptroller’s office examined publicly available data, including licensed information from Bloomberg, LSEG Workspace, and MSCI, to identify U.S.-based funds that appear to restrict or prohibit investments in energy companies. However, in February 2026, a federal judge in Austin issued a ruling prohibiting enforcement of SB 13, the law that allowed the Texas Comptroller to create and maintain its Financial Companies that Boycott Energy Companies list. The court held that the law infringed upon First and Fourteenth Amendment protections. The plaintiffs argued that SB 13 unlawfully penalized financial firms for engaging in protected speech and investment decisions related to ESG policies, effectively compelling viewpoint-based certifications to do business with the state. The State of Texas, however, contended that SB 13 represented a lawful exercise of its authority to direct state investments and contracting decisions and to protect the state’s energy industry from what it characterized as discriminatory financial practices. In February 2026, the Texas Comptroller’s Office and the Texas Attorney General’s Office appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case remains pending (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). Trillium Asset Management integrates ESG into all of its business practices. The company is a leading proponent of ESG and screens potential business partners (investment targets, customers, etc.) based on ESG policy (6). Trillium will not invest in or partner with companies with “material involvement” in various industries, ranging from tobacco, coal mining, fossil fuels, firearms, and private prisons (7). Trillium also selects its potential clients according to gender- and sexuality-related diversity policies (8).

Trillium does not discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1)(2).

The company appears to prioritize diversity over merit, seeking to “more actively recruit people of color” (1). Trillium does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (2).

Trillium is a self-proclaimed left-of-center, activist firm, and leader in “socially responsible investing” (1). Trillium frequently puts social pressure on other companies, such as Facebook and Nike, to release their data regarding the race and sex of their employees (2). Former Director of Shareholder Advocacy Allan Pearce has outwardly and explicitly stated that one of Trillium’s goals is to press companies to take the liberal “side” in controversies such as abortion, and the company regularly pushed for companies to disclose diversity statistics of its employees (3). Trillium publicly endorsed the For the People Act in Congress (4). Trillium was part of the Freedom for All Americans coalition, which advocated for federal legislation that would overrule state laws designed to protect girls’ sports and similar laws (5). Trillium owns shares in TJX Companies and stated that it would produce a shareholder resolution inquiring about how a potential overruling of Roe v. Wade would affect TJX’s business (6). Trillium was part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative prior to NZAM’s suspension in 2025. Its membership indicated a commitment to carbon neutrality with its investments by 2050 (7)(8)(9). The company has voiced its support of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) and racial equity causes. Trillium, alongside a few other companies, mobilized investors to get the Washington Redskins to change their name and logo (10). The company opposed various state and local legislation intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (11). Trillium opposed legislation in Iowa intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (12). The company opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which would prohibit teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to kids in K-3rd grade (13). Trillium is a member of Climate Action 100+, committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 (14)(15). Trillium is a member of the “Don’t Ban Equality” business coalition, which advocates against any abortion restrictions because they are “bad for business” (16).

Trillium and some of its former executives have started activist groups such as Open MIC, which encourages companies in the tech sphere to adopt various diversity quotas (1). Trillium directs many of its funds into ESG-related projects and even uses corporate dollars to advance shareholder resolutions about ideological issues (2)(3). Trillium is a certified B Corp (4). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Trillium Asset Management using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (5).

Trillium does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).