BlackRock's Fink defends push for companies to value more than profits
By Akriti Sharma and
In his annual open letter, Fink built on themes he has sounded in previous January missives to other CEOs, calling on them to find a purpose and to take account of issues like climate change as part of so-called stakeholder capitalism.
"Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics," Fink said in the letter late on Monday, titled The Power of Capitalism. "It is not 'woke.' It is capitalism."
Fink, 69, defended BlackRock's (BLK) stance in engaging with companies on carbon transition rather than divesting altogether, saying the companies themselves cannot be the "climate police" but instead should work with governments.
"Divesting from entire sectors - or simply passing carbon-intensive assets from public markets to private markets - will not get the world to net zero," he said. "And BlackRock (BLK) does not pursue divestment from oil and gas companies as a policy."
Overseeing
In Monday's letter, Fink unveiled plans to launch a Center for Stakeholder Capitalism to create a "forum for research, dialogue, and debate." The center will help to explore the relationships between companies and their stakeholders, he said.
Fink also said that BlackRock (BLK) is working to expand an initiative for investors to use technology to cast proxy votes.
"We are committed to a future where every investor - even individual investors - can have the option to participate in the proxy voting process if they choose," he said.
After years of criticism from activists focused on climate and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, BlackRock (BLK) changed course in 2021 and cast a much more critical set of proxy votes such as backing calls for things like emissions reports or the disclosure of workforce diversity data.
At the same time the fund manager has faced challenges from
conservative U.S. politicians. On Monday, West Virginia State
Treasurer
In a news release, Moore cited BlackRock's (BLK) dealings in
A BlackRock (BLK) spokesman declined comment. The company in
December acknowledged some continued fossil-fuel investment will
be needed.
(Reporting by