HSBC Asset Management's former responsible investing boss Stuart Kirk, who quit in July amid controversial comments he made on climate change, has slammed industry pledges to divest from coal companies as “immoral, negligent, and potentially harmful to the environment”, in another apparent criticism of his former employer.

Writing in a LinkedIn post on 26 September, Kirk said ditching coal company shares from a listed equity portfolio was "worse than pointless virtue signalling" and "makes zero difference to the company — just as Honda doesn’t care if you flog your second-hand Civic".