Sixteen state Attorneys General are “finally” asking BlackRock the right questions (18 pages worth) over its environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies, which are negatively affecting its shareholders’ investments. BlackRock (woth $10 trillion) has been a prominent advocate for Woke Social Justice issues that are both anti-investor and tread heavily on civil rights while promoting the climate campaign.
Recent scrutiny of BlackRock’s investment strategies and conflict-of-interest questions has spurred these attorneys general to want answers. Perhaps it being an election year gave them the impetus to ask questions about lagging returns that their state pension fund directors have been duly concerned about. They addressed BlackRock in July last year and got no response; this year, being an election year, might get more attention and elicit some informative responses.
Interestingly, BlackRock recently broke away from a major climate initiative, Climate Action 100+, the largest global investor engagement initiative on climate change. BlackRock exited because it is projected to cost “well over $100 trillion in capital and innovative financing mechanisms”. Even the big boys at BlackRock could see the writing on the wall for their investors if that were in play. There is no way that BlackRock could pony up their “fair share’ and still make money for the investors. BlackRock remains in other “groups like the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, and Ceres. BlackRock International, a subsidiary, is still part of the Climate Action organization”. Thus, they’ve backed off the Woke initiatives just enough to, perhaps, save their bottom line with the states’ attorneys general looking over their shoulders.
Leif Le Mahiue from Daily Wire gives us his exclusive: “Republican Officials Demand Answers On BlackRock’s ‘Woke’ Climate Agenda”.
In a letter to BlackRock on Tuesday, 15 Republican attorneys general led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, demanded more answers from BlackRock about its participation in climate organizations and what kind of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies it has implemented.
In addition to Montana, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Utah all signed on to the letter.
“I have serious concerns about BlackRock’s Environmental, Social, and Governance investments, their conflicting statements regarding ESG, and the potential conflicts of interest with independent fund directors,” Knudsen told The Daily Wire. “Mutual fund directors have a fiduciary obligation to their clients to make them as much money as possible, but BlackRock appears to be more concerned with pushing the woke, liberal agenda.”
This is an excellent start. May more states wake up and climb on board. Just get it done before the election, or it might not happen. Once the elections are over, there will be less impetus to carry through – it will be back to “business as usual”.
Read the full article here.