Page 1 of 1

Blackrock ditches green activism over energy fears

Posted: May 12th, 2022, 8:36 am
by richfool
BlackRock ditches green activism over Russia energy fears

Fund titan says investing in traditional energy sources is now required to boost security


By Simon Foy 11 May 2022 • 7:21pm

Blackrock has ballooned to manage more than $10 trillion in assets Credit: Brendan McDermid /REUTERS

BlackRock has warned it will vote against most shareholder green activism this year for being too extreme, in a significant u-turn by the world’s biggest money manager.

The company said it was concerned about proposals to stop financing fossil fuel companies, including forcing them to decommission assets and setting absolute targets for reducing emissions in their supply chains.

It comes as BlackRock said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has impacted the transition to net-zero, adding that short-term investment in traditional energy sources is now required to boost security.

In a stewardship report, the asset manager said: “We do not consider [the proposals] to be consistent with our clients’ long-term financial interests.


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... rgy-fears/

Re: Blackrock ditches green activism over energy fears

Posted: May 12th, 2022, 9:11 am
by UncleEbenezer
So, time to ditch Blackrock, if one had been invested there for reasons that included an element of caring about the future.

It also raises the question touched on here, about where Blackrock's previous policy sat on a scale from greenwash tokenism to serious. Presumably a company like Blackrock encompasses a range of different attitudes among its staff, and is thus inevitably going to face more than one way on an important issue.

Re: Blackrock ditches green activism over energy fears

Posted: May 12th, 2022, 9:19 am
by Lootman
UncleEbenezer wrote:So, time to ditch Blackrock, if one had been invested there for reasons that included an element of caring about the future.

It also raises the question touched on here, about where Blackrock's previous policy sat on a scale from greenwash tokenism to serious. Presumably a company like Blackrock encompasses a range of different attitudes among its staff, and is thus inevitably going to face more than one way on an important issue.

The issue here is simply about proxy voting. Blackrock never seriously disinvested from energy and, indeed, runs active funds that operate solely in that space.

Energy has been a massive out-performer in the last 18 months. Even a major like Chevron has tripled in price, whilst some shale operators are up 4 or 5 fold. Had they disinvested then they would have seriously under-performed their benchmarks, and could have been accused of violating their fiduciary responsibility to investors.

The Ukraine war has changed the landscape for energy. There may yet be a time for disinvestment but it is not now.

Re: Blackrock ditches green activism over energy fears

Posted: May 12th, 2022, 10:04 am
by richfool
Currently energy is, and has been, the place to be and that includes fossil fuels.

As well as Blackrock's BERI, many UK and even Global IT's hold big oil. (MRCH, AEI, LWDB, CTY, even global G&I JGGI and global growth BUT.

Re: Blackrock ditches green activism over energy fears

Posted: May 12th, 2022, 4:08 pm
by absolutezero
UncleEbenezer wrote:So, time to ditch Blackrock, if one had been invested there for reasons that included an element of caring about the future.
.

Or if, like me, you don't give a badger's chuff about greenery, buy more BlackRock products.