{"id":1724272,"date":"2022-11-04T06:10:08","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T10:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1724272"},"modified":"2022-11-04T07:19:10","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T11:19:10","slug":"blackrock-announces-expansion-of-corporate-voter-choice-due-to-gop-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blackrock-announces-expansion-of-corporate-voter-choice-due-to-gop-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"BlackRock Announces Expansion of Corporate Voter Choice Due to GOP Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblackrock-announces-expansion-of-corporate-voter-choice-due-to-gop-pressure%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1724272&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/04071905\/90-28\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody\">\n<div class=\"RichTextArticleBody-body\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement\">\n<div class=\"Enhancement-item\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/blackrock\">BlackRock<\/a>, <span class=\"ArticlePage-articleBody-firstLetter\">w<\/span>hich has faced public pressure from Republicans over its commitment to social and environmental goals, announced Thursday it is expanding voting in proxy battles to some smaller investors, lessening its own power over corporate decisions. <\/p>\n<p>The move comes a year after the firm, which is the world\u2019s largest <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/markets\">money manager,<\/a> announced its \u201cVoting Choice\u201d initiative that enabled all U.S. public and private pension plans, in addition to endowments, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds, to engage in the proxy voting process. <\/p>\n<p>The new announcement by BlackRock on Thursday will grant individual investors in select mutual funds in the United Kingdom the same ability, according to the firm, a pilot program that could be expanded. The <i>Financial Times<\/i> <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/6446b81f-a1b4-492f-b335-62f0efe11e7c\">reported<\/a> that the pilot program would begin next year. <\/p>\n<p>In a letter to clients, BlackRock CEO <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/larry-fink\">Larry Fink<\/a> said that engagement between companies and their owners is pillar of capitalism and that technology can enhance that engagement. He said that while many asset owners are fine with BlackRock\u2019s stewardship team serving \u201cas a bridge between them and the companies they are invested in,\u201d others increasingly want to participate in the proxy voting process. <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/economy\/blackrock-webpage-investing-esg-pushback\">BLACKROCK EXPANDS DEFENSE AGAINST REPUBLICAN ESG PUSHBACK<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can now use technology and innovation to enhance that engagement, broaden the touchpoints a company has with its owners, and bring more voices into our capitalist system,\u201d Fink said. \u201cThis revolution in shareholder democracy will take years to be fully realized, but it is one that, if executed correctly, can strengthen the very foundations of capitalism.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Under the current Voting Choice initiative, institutional investors holding nearly $2 trillion in assets can engage in proxy voting, with the owners of some $450 billion already taking advantage of the opportunity. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s clear there are investors who don\u2019t want to sit on the sidelines. They have a view on corporate governance, and they want a meaningful way to express those views,\u201d Fink said. <\/p>\n<p>The move to push more \u201cshareholder democracy\u201d comes as BlackRock faces scrutiny and divestment from Republican statewide officials, including attorneys general and treasurers, over its environmental, social, and governance push. <\/p>\n<p>Missouri was the latest state to launch a broadside against BlackRock. Last month, Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announced that the state is pulling <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/faith-freedom-self-reliance\/missouri-divests-500-million-from-blackrock-in-latest-red-state-esg-pushback\">some $500 million<\/a> in pension funds from the firm. Fitzpatrick accused BlackRock of prioritizing a \u201cwoke political agenda\u201d over delivering shareholder value. He asserted the action was taken to prevent Missourians\u2019 tax dollars from \u201cbeing weaponized against them.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><b><a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/b> <\/p>\n<p>South Carolina\u2019s state treasurer also confirmed to the <i>Washington Examiner<\/i> last month that it will be divesting <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/faith-freedom-self-reliance\/louisiana-blackrock-divestment\">all its BlackRock holdings<\/a>. Louisiana additionally announced that the state had <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/faith-freedom-self-reliance\/louisiana-blackrock-divestment\">divested $560 million<\/a>, which will increase to $794 million over the coming months. <\/p>\n<p>Amid the barrage of divestments, <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/economy\/blackrock-webpage-investing-esg-pushback\">BlackRock launched<\/a> a <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blackrock.com\/us\/individual\/insights\/energy-investing\">webpage<\/a> committed to \u201csetting the record straight\u201d about how it handles investment decisions, disclosure, and ESG. The firm claims its views on climate risk aren\u2019t unique, and its new webpage noted that an overwhelming majority of companies in the S&#038;P 500 publish sustainability reports.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BlackRock, which has faced public pressure from Republicans over its commitment to social and environmental goals, announced Thursday it is expanding voting in proxy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1724277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1724272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1724272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1724272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1724277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1724272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1724272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1724272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}