Chris Spencer, executive director of the State Board of Administration of Florida, told the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability that the SBA manages more than $257 billion in assets and must follow a set of statutory investment restrictions known as the Protecting Florida’s Investments Act (PFIA).

"The SBA is a body corporate of the State Of Florida established in the Florida Constitution to manage the general investment activity of the State," Spencer said. He explained that the SBA’s fiduciary duty requires that investment decisions be made to maximize financial return consistent with risk and that House Bill 3 (2023) requires investment decisions be based solely on pecuniary factors.

Spencer described PFIA categories covering Northern Ireland, Cuba and Venezuela, Israel, Sudan and Iran, and newest restrictions related to China. Under the statute, companies identified as engaging in a boycott of Israel, or with specified ties to Sudan or Iran, are placed on scrutinized lists; the SBA must engage and divest after a 90‑day period if the conduct continues. For Chinese entities, the recent law prohibits acquiring direct holdings in companies more than 50% owned by the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party, or Chinese military.

Spencer reported the SBA’s current counts from its most recent governance report: 62 companies on the Sudan list, 59 on the Iran list (30 companies appear on both lists), 18 on the boycott‑of‑Israel list and 570 companies on the prohibited Chinese state‑owned enterprises list. After initial screening the SBA identified 33 companies in its holdings subject to the Chinese state‑owned enterprises prohibition with a valuation of about $172.4 million; by the fourth quarter the SBA had reduced that number to 13 companies valued at about $63.9 million and submitted a divestment plan to the Legislature on Sept. 1, 2024.

The SBA told the committee it also recommended removing China and Hong Kong from the global equity benchmark to eliminate passive exposure and set a 0‑weight policy for the Chinese public equities market; active managers may still take positions in specific Chinese equities. Spencer said the 0‑weight policy could reduce China exposure by up to half of the SBA’s approximately $2.6 billion current exposure to that market. He said the SBA is working to complete statutorily required divestments by the Sept. 1, 2025 deadline and answered members’ questions after the briefing.