Boston pension board ousts money manager Fisher, total withdrawls near $1 billion

BOSTON (Reuters) – The City of Boston’s retirement board on Wednesday voted unanimously to end its relationship with money manager Kenneth Fisher, whose firm has lost almost $1 billion in assets after allegations he made disparaging remarks about women last week.

Fisher Investments managed about $253 million for Boston’s pension. The retirement board’s vote came as Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Fisher’s statements showed “a profound lack of judgment.”

“Boston will not invest in companies led by people who treat women like commodities. Reports of Ken Fisher’s comments and poor judgment are incredibly disturbing, and I have asked our retirement board to take a vote to end any relationship with Fisher Investments,” Walsh said in a statement.

So far, pension plans run for Boston, the state of Michigan and the city of Philadelphia have announced they will stop investing more than $900 million with Fisher Investments. The #MeToo movement has exposed widespread sexual harassment or abuse of women in multiple spheres of American life and ended the careers of dozens of powerful men in media, politics, entertainment and business.

Meanwhile, Boston-based mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments and pension plans around the country have said they are reviewing whether to keep investing money with Fisher Investments, which manages about $112 billion.

The company was not immediately available to comment on Boston’s announcement.