{"id":1770970,"date":"2022-12-10T06:13:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T11:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1770970"},"modified":"2022-12-10T06:33:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T11:33:44","slug":"blackrock-ceo-faces-calls-to-step-down-over-esg-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blackrock-ceo-faces-calls-to-step-down-over-esg-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"BlackRock CEO Faces Calls to Step Down Over ESG Policies"},"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\">20<\/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-ceo-faces-calls-to-step-down-over-esg-policies%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=1770970&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-->\n<div class=\"featured featured-video video-ct\">\n<div class=\"contain\">\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\u00a0SEC commissioner Hester Peirce discusses the idea of \u2018woke\u2019 investing and how BlackRock is pushing back on the GOP on \u2018Fox Business Tonight.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE: <\/strong>The treasurer of one of the largest state pension funds in the U.S. is urging BlackRock CEO Larry Fink to resign from the investment firm over its environment, social, and governance (ESG) policies.<\/p>\n<p>North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell sent a letter to BlackRock&#8217;s board of directors calling for Fink to step aside because the CEO&#8217;s &#8220;pursuit of a political agenda has gotten in the way of BlackRock&#8217;s same fiduciary duty&#8221; to its investors. &#8220;A focus on ESG is not a focus on returns and could potentially force us to violate our fiduciary duty,&#8221; Folwell wrote.<\/p>\n<table class=\"stock-fundamentals\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th class=\"ticker\">Ticker<\/th>\n<th class=\"security\">Security<\/th>\n<th class=\"last\">Last<\/th>\n<th class=\"change\">Change<\/th>\n<th class=\"percent\">Change %<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"ticker\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/quote?stockTicker=BLK\">BLK<\/a><\/td>\n<td class=\"security\">BLACKROCK INC.<\/td>\n<td class=\"last\">707.16<\/td>\n<td class=\"change pos\">+3.71<\/td>\n<td class=\"percent pos\">+0.53%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr><\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>He noted that the North Carolina Retirement System (NCRS), which is valued at roughly $111 billion, has invested roughly $14 billion through BlackRock in a variety of active and passive funds, in addition to $55 million passively invested in BlackRock&#8217;s stocks and bonds. He wrote, &#8220;There is no blue money or red money at the treasurer&#8217;s office, only green. As the fiduciary for NCRS, I seek not to be political, but mathematical.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/markets\/blackrocks-esg-push-puts-ceo-larry-fink-activist-crosshairs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BLACKROCK&#8217;S ESG PUSH PUTS CEO LARRY FINK IN ACTIVIST CROSSHAIRS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"inline image-ct\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/931\/523\/2022-12-07T003845Z_3_LYNXMPEIB511I_RTROPTP_4_BLACKROCK-CRYPTO.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"BlackRock CEO Larry Fink\"     style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, arrives at the DealBook Summit in New York City, Nov. 30, 2022. <\/span><span> (Reuters\/David &#8216;Dee&#8217; Delgado)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/category\/blackrock\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BlackRock<\/a> is currently the world&#8217;s largest asset manager with roughly $8 trillion under management and is one of several major financial institutions that have led the charge for the adoption of ESG standards in recent years. The ESG movement broadly seeks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/green-energy-projects-face-stark-environmental-local-opposition-nationwide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>promote a green energy transition<\/u><\/a> and left-wing social priorities through the financial sector.<\/p>\n<p>The ESG policies advanced by BlackRock have drawn the ire of some investors and state policymakers alike. Florida&#8217;s chief financial officer announced last week that the state&#8217;s treasury is taking action to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/florida-divesting-two-billion-blackrock-over-firms-esg-push\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">remove about $2 billion in assets<\/a> from BlackRock&#8217;s stewardship before the end of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/media\/desantis-praised-pulling-money-blackrock-esg-concerns-illegal-leftist-scam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DESANTIS PRAISED FOR PULLING MONEY FROM BLACKROCK OVER ESG CONCERNS: \u2018ILLEGAL LEFTIST SCAM\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"inline image-ct\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/931\/523\/blackrockoffice.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"BlackRock headquarters in New York City\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>BlackRock offices in New York City. The company, along with nine others, were named by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar\u00a0as being hostile to the state&#8217;s fossil fuel sector.\u00a0<\/span><span> (Erik McGregor\/LightRocket via Getty Images \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In October, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/blackrock-not-esg-enough-nyc-comptroller\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Louisiana<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/blackrock-not-esg-enough-nyc-comptroller\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Missouri<\/a> announced they would reallocate state pension funds away from BlackRock, which amounted to roughly $1.3 billion in combined assets. The Texas legislature has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/texas-subpoenas-blackrock-documents-related-esg-push\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">subpoenaed BlackRock for financial documents<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Amid its broad push for ESG, BlackRock&#8217;s stance against investing in fossil fuels has been a particular point of controversy for its detractors. Folwell noted in his letter that in 2020, Fink &#8220;used BlackRock&#8217;s clients&#8217; votes against two management-supported board members of ExxonMobil because of \u2018insignificant progress\u2019 towards green energy. Yet, ExxonMobil stock rose 60% in the 12 months since the board member election because of an increase in demand for oil.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/blackrock-not-esg-enough-nyc-comptroller\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BLACKROCK NOT ESG ENOUGH FOR NYC, COMPTROLLER SAYS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"inline image-ct\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxbusiness.com\/foxbusiness.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/931\/523\/USA-CLIMATE-OIL-CARBON-e1668191772188.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"Pump jacks\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>Pump jacks operate in front of a drilling rig in an oil field in Midland, Texas, Aug. 22, 2018.<\/span><span> (REUTERS\/Nick Oxford\/File Photo \/ Reuters Photos)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;BlackRock needs to be totally focused on returns for their clients, not on the political effort to \u2018transform\u2019 the economy to you vision of carbon zero. Fossil fuels will be the engine that drives the world&#8217;s economy for the foreseeable future,&#8221; Folwell told the BlackRock board.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last year, BlackRock has rolled out and later broadened a proxy voting program that allows certain groups of the firm&#8217;s clients to weigh in on investment decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/apps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><u>GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In his letter, Folwell informed BlackRock&#8217;s board that the NCRS will begin voting the shares it has under the management of BlackRock in an effort to counteract the investment giant&#8217;s ESG push, but said &#8220;the existence of the proxy voting program does not mitigate the need for a new direction at BlackRock.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Folwell&#8217;s letter to the BlackRock board concluded that Fink must leave the firm for it to refocus on its fiduciary duty to investors: &#8220;Given his dogged pursuit of these political objectives over a number of years, I&#8217;m skeptical that he would or could lead the necessary course correction. Having lost confidence in his leadership to responsibly steward investors&#8217; resources, I request, quite simply, that he resign or be removed from the asset management firm&#8217;s leadership team immediately.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><i>FOX Business&#8217; Breck Dumas and Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0SEC commissioner Hester Peirce discusses the idea of \u2018woke\u2019 investing and how BlackRock is pushing back on the GOP on \u2018Fox Business Tonight.\u2019 EXCLUSIVE: The treasurer of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1888862,"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":[7002,5458,3755,3850,7003,4600,3819,5101],"class_list":["post-1770970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-blackrock","tag-bongino","tag-calls","tag-ceo","tag-esg","tag-policies","tag-report","tag-step"],"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\/1770970","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=1770970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1770970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1888862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1770970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1770970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1770970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}