Healthy Planet, Healthy Portfolio: Shareholders Urge Centene to Address Climate Risk in Retirement Plans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Healthy Planet, Healthy Portfolio: Shareholders Urge Centene to Address Climate Risk in Retirement Plans
MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, 310.579.2188
Centene’s high-carbon 401(k) investments put employees’ life savings at risk and undermine its mission to protect health and well-being.
EL CERRITO, CA— May 15, 2025 — Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC), a provider of government-sponsored healthcare, last night released results from a recent vote on a proposal from shareholder representative As You Sow calling for a report on how the company is protecting employees from growing climate portfolio risk in its retirement plan. Backed by $2.3 billion in shares, the proposal passed the threshold for refiling next season. The resolution asks Centene for a report describing how the company is protecting employees from climate-related portfolio risk in its retirement plan.
In recent years, employees have begun demanding that employers offer retirement plans aligned with a livable and sustainable future. While Centene has made strides to address its operational climate impact, it has not acted to meaningfully address the emissions generated by its retirement plan investments. Nearly $200 million of employee savings are being funneled into oil, coal-fired utilities, and agribusinesses involved in deforestation. This creates cognitive dissonance, reputational risk, and likelihood of lower returns for employees, especially over time as climate costs escalate.
"Centene’s commitment to health and well-being should extend to its employees’ financial future,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “Centene’s employees deserve retirement plans that reduce portfolio climate risk rather than jeopardize their financial security and the planet’s future. Centene claims to ‘transform the health of the communities we serve, one person at a time.’ It should start with a focus on its own employees who want to retire on a livable planet.”
Danielle Fugere, President and Chief Counsel of As You Sow, added: “When 401(k) fund fiduciaries fail to adopt climate risk mitigation practices, they add undiversifiable systemic climate risk into workers’ portfolios. As greenhouse gas emissions grow, so too does the cost of catastrophic weather-related events, disruption of business supply chains, and communities being put in harm’s way. Already, catastrophic climate-related losses are mounting and homeowners’ insurance rates are skyrocketing or unavailable.”
Centene’s failure to properly address climate risk puts the company in jeopardy of breaching its fiduciary duty to manage 401(k) plan in the best interests of all plan beneficiaries, exposing it to potential legal liability.
As You Sow publishes monthly report cards rating retirement plans and mutual funds as part of its Invest Your Values initiative.
About As You Sow
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. Its focus areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, rights of nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.