Alaska House Bill 6 begins with a principle that used to be common sense, fiduciary duty means maximizing financial returns for the people whose money you manage, not advancing political or ideological agendas. This legislation exists because that principle has been eroded by powerful financial actors who believe they have the right to use other people’s money to reshape society.
Across the country, large asset managers have abandoned neutrality. Under the banner of environmental, social, and governance investing, they have redirected capital away from performance and toward politics. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the quiet part out loud when he admitted, “You have to force behaviors.” That was not a slip of the tongue. It was a strategy statement.
One of the most dangerous tactics in this system is what has become known as “board stacking.” Massive index fund managers like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street hold concentrated ownership stakes in thousands of major American companies. They are marketed to the public as passive investors, but they are anything but passive. They use their voting power to influence who sits on corporate boards, pushing out directors focused on shareholder value and replacing them with individuals aligned with political priorities like climate mandates, diversity quotas, and ideological compliance. Once boards are stacked, policy follows politics rather than performance.
Americans are tired of having their savings turned into political weapons.
This matters directly to Alaska. Our Permanent Fund and our public retirement systems are heavily invested in national and global markets. When Alaska’s money is placed into these index funds, those managers then use our shares to vote against the very industries that fund our economy. They pressure energy companies to abandon profitable projects, force premature net zero targets, and divert capital toward politically favored ventures that carry lower returns. They are using Alaska’s money to undermine Alaska’s future and then call it stewardship.
HB 6 is designed to stop that abuse. It requires fiduciaries of Alaska’s state funds, including the Alaska Retirement Management Board and the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, to act solely in the financial and pecuniary interests of beneficiaries. Not partially. Not secondarily. Solely. It makes clear that investment decisions, proxy voting, shareholder engagement, and divestment must be driven by financial analysis, not ideological preference. It restores the prudent investor rule to what it was always meant to be, disciplined, neutral, and focused on returns.
This bill is not isolated. Across the country, states are pushing back. Texas, Florida, and more than 20 other states have begun restricting business with firms that put politics ahead of performance. Federal proposals have been put forward to limit the centralized voting power of massive asset managers and return that power to individual investors. These reforms exist for one reason; Americans are tired of having their savings turned into political weapons.
The Legislature and Alaskans did not create the Permanent Fund to serve as a tool for activists who have no stake in Alaska’s success.
Opponents of HB 6 claim this is unnecessary, that fiduciaries already follow financial first principles. If that were true, there would be no ESG mandates dominating corporate governance, no activist proxy voting by supposedly passive funds, and no admissions from industry leaders about forcing political outcomes. The record is clear. Passive funds routinely support political shareholder proposals. They actively influence management. They shape boards. That is not passive investing. It is not consistent with fiduciary law, and it should not be present in Alaska’s major funds.
HB 6 is not bureaucratic overreach. It does not expand government. It does not create new agencies or compliance regimes. It simply draws a bright line and enforces a standard that should never have been abandoned. The fiscal notes show no meaningful cost. What it offers instead is protection, stability, and long term discipline.
Alaskans did not sacrifice, build, and save so their retirement money could be used to advance political fashions in cities thousands of miles away. The Legislature and Alaskans did not create the Permanent Fund to serve as a tool for activists who have no stake in Alaska’s success. That fund exists because generations of Alaskans understood that resource development must benefit the people, not outside interests.
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HB 6 is about sovereignty over our own money. It is about making sure Alaska’s savings are invested in Alaska’s values, not Wall Street’s politics. It is about restoring trust, restoring discipline and the idea that fiduciary duty is a sacred responsibility, not a loophole for activism.
The Legislature should not allow this bill to die quietly in committee. It should not be watered down to appease consultants or outside pressure groups. This is a defining issue for the state. Either Alaska defends its retirees, its workers, and its future, or it allows outside asset managers to continue using our money to undermine us.
HB 6 draws that line clearly. It says Alaska’s money belongs to Alaska’s people, and it will be managed for their financial benefit, not for political experimentation. That is not extreme. That is responsible. That is exactly what fiduciary duty was always supposed to mean.
The views expressed here are those of the author.
