BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group Inc. and Fidelity Investments are being drawn into a fight over political spending with a top Securities and Exchange Commission official rebuking the fund managers for failing to push corporations to disclose their campaign contributions. As managers of trillions of dollars, BlackRock, Vanguard and Fidelity are among the biggest investors in…
Category: blackrock
Activists thought BlackRock, Vanguard were climate allies. Not now
In 2017, the two biggest U.S.-based fund managers, BlackRock and Vanguard — which control a combined $12 trillion in assets — both voted to require Exxon Mobil to produce a report on climate change. It was a seen as watershed moment showing what can occur when the biggest index funds punch their weight at the…
Rise of Index ETFs Could Result in Complacent Corporate Governance | ETF Trends
Echoing (or catching up to) the findings of VEA Chair Bob Monks in his book Citizens Disunited, this reflects increasing concerns about “drone” investors. As more money flows into index-based stock mutual funds and ETFs, there may be less actively involved shareholders willing to push for changes during shareholder meetings. Index funds now account for…
Majority Action’s Asset Manager Report 2019 — BlackRock and Vanguard Flunk Again
Majority Action’s latest report on asset manager votes on climate change show little progress: BlackRock and Vanguard voted for 99% of U.S. large capitalization energy and utility company-proposed directors and 100% of their say on pay proposals. BlackRock and Vanguard not only voted with management more often than most of their asset manager peers; they…
BlackRock lost $90bn investing in fossil fuel companies, report finds | Environment | The Guardian
BlackRock, the world’s biggest investor, has lost an estimated $90bn over the last decade by ignoring the serious financial risk of investing in fossil fuel companies, according to economists. A report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has found that BlackRock has eroded the value of its $6.5tn funds by betting…
Executive Compensation: The Role of Public Company Shareholders
Barbara Novick of BlackRock, Inc., one of the largest and most powerful institutional investors in the world, wrote about CEO pay and the role of shareholders. Of particular note is her assessment of proxy advisors, making it clear that proxy advisor clients appreciate the analysis and recommendations but have their own views. Proxy advisors are…
A Catch 22 for Asset Managers
Jasmin Sethi writes about the impact of concentrated voting power and calls for better disclosure of the exercise of ownership rights: The big three—BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard—are victims of their own size. As they have increased their assets under management, they have also increased their voting power as typically they vote the shares for…
Index Funds May be Able to Vote 41% of S&P 500 Shares in the Future | Corporate & Securities Law Blog – JDSupra
Research by Lucian A. Bebchuk, Harvard Law School, and Scott Hirst, Boston University School of Law, indicates three key index fund advisors could cast 34% of votes in the next decade at S&P 500 companies, and about 41% of votes at S&P 500 companies in two decades. The key index fund managers are BlackRock, Vanguard,…
Shareholder activism is on the rise, but companies are fighting back – CNN
VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow is quoted in a CNN story about shareholder activism and the way corporate executives are pushing back, including the fake front groups ACCF and Main Street Investors Coalition. Leveraging shareholder votes for environmental and social ends isn’t new, but such resolutions have been on the rise in recent years. Shareholders…
Goldman Board Goes On Female Hiring Spree, Leaves Old-Boy Era Behind – TheStreet
The boardroom of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is finally catching up with the #metoo era.The Wall Street firm, historically man-heavy in its executive suite as well as among directors, said Thursday it had named former U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Jan Tighe to its board. Her appointment boosts the share of women on the board to four out of…
