As ESG investing continues to come under attack, the world’s largest money management firm, BlackRock, ended the third quarter of 2023 with $9 trillion of assets under management, down from a peak of more than $10 trillion in 2022, the New York Post reports.

BlackRock became a political lightning rod for embracing environmental, social and governance investing, which advocates for investing in sustainable energy companies, those advocating for greater equality in society, and businesses whose own leadership embraces corporate governance issues such as boardroom diversity.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink repudiated ESG investing last fall for becoming overly politicized, and today, portfolio managers at the company that Fink founded are no longer required to weigh ESG metrics when investing in funds at BlackRock, including those not ESG-oriented.

In 2023, many green investment funds lost assets due to weak performance as well as investor redemptions.

Top Republicans have attacked BlackRock and ESG, with pensions in red states having redeemed $6 billion from BlackRock funds in protest over the firm’s ESG policies, which conservatives and some investment managers say fail to meet portfolio managers’ fiduciary duties to deliver the highest returns for investors.

BlackRock this week is expected to announce layoffs of 3% of its workforce, or 600 people, although sources say the job cuts are routine, performance-oriented cutbacks.

BlackRock (BLK) shares fell 21% in 2022 but rebounded by 6% in 2023, as the investment management firm’s exchange-traded funds business reaped $187 billion of inflows.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to approve a new spot Bitcoin ETF from BlackRock on Wednesday, and the firm is scheduled to announce its fourth quarter earnings Friday.

At 3 p.m. Monday, the stock was up 1.49% to $794.71 a share.