TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis requested an immediate investigation into whether conduct by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) has impacted the value of the state’s retirement system and pension plan fund holdings.
“It has come to my attention that the State Board of Administration (SBA) currently holds global equity assets with Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev),” DeSantis wrote in a letter to the SBA obtained by The Florida Standard.
“As you well know, AB InBev’s performance has plummeted since its decision to associate its Bud Light brand with radical social ideologies,” DeSantis told SBA Interim Director Lamar Taylor.
The governor said the fateful decision by the makers of Bud Light has transformed America’s formerly best-selling beer – and one of AB InBev’s best-performing assets – into a commercial pariah, noting that “AB InBev’s losses have been staggering.”
FLORIDA RETIREMENT AND PENSIONS
The State Board of Administration’s (SBA) primary function as an asset management organization is to provide superior investment and trust services while adhering to the highest ethical, fiduciary and professional standards.
As of January 31, 2022, the board had $253.1 billion under management. The largest fund under the SBA’s supervision is the Florida Retirement System (FRS) Pension Plan Fund, which accounts for 79 percent of the assets managed by SBA.
Other major funds include the FRS Investment Plan Fund (5.8 percent), the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (5.1 percent), and the Local Government Surplus Funds (Florida PRIME) Trust Fund (7.1 percent).
BUD LIGHT’S BIZARRE MISSTEP
Last month, Reuters reported that since Bud Light’s bizarre marketing misstep, it has “lost its top spot in the US beer market.”
After obtaining NielsenIQ sales data through an intermediary, Newsweek reported that “over a four-week period, ending July 1, Bud Light saw a 28 percent decrease in revenue sales as well as a decrease in volume… down 31.2 percent compared with the same time last year.”
The data indicates that AB InBev’s politicization of its Bud Light brand may also be dragging down the value of other beverages within the AB InBev umbrella. Reports have emerged that Costco has placed the “star of death” on its Bud Light inventory as it prepares to pull it from the shelves.
“Sales of Michelob Ultra – the nation’s No. 3 beer last year – were down
by 4.3% in the week end[ingl July 1 while Busch Light sales were down 8.5%,” the New York Post reported.
FLORIDA MUST PRUDENTLY MANAGE FUNDS
DeSantis said it’s clear that AB InBev’s failure to remediate the problem and repair its relationship with millions of disaffected American consumers has led to an impasse that will continue to financially harm the SBA and other shareholders.
“Our legal commitments and obligations, however, remain perfectly clear: we must prudently manage the funds of Florida’s hardworking law enforcement officers, teachers, firefighters, and first responders in a manner that focuses on growing returns, not subsidizing an ideological agenda through woke virtue signaling,” DeSantis wrote.
“To protect SBA and the retirees of Florida from losses attributable to AB InBev’s disregard of those duties, all options are on the table.” DeSantis added.
A copy of the letter was sent to Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody.
