BlackRock Archives - The Florida Capital Star

Nikki Haley Meets with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Other Wall Street Elites

November 18, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley met with several Wall Street executives in a series of events Tuesday in her bid to be the Republican nominee for president, according to the Financial Times.

Haley attended a small meet-and-greet breakfast in New York where CEO of BlackRock Larry Fink was in attendance, followed by a fundraiser later in the day co-hosted by Gary Cohn, former president of Goldman Sachs, according to the FT. BlackRock has been criticized by conservatives in recent years for its adoption and promotion of Environment, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) policies, which aim to invest in companies based on their commitment to social and environmental causes.

Commentary: Rumors of ESG’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

October 11, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

Consumer and Republican backlash against Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investments has increased dramatically in the past year as states, Congress and presidential candidates have taken on the issue, promising to rein in the largely green-conscious movement of capital amid spiraling energy and food costs since 2021.

Boycotts of brands such as Bud Light, Disney and Target, coupled with statements by Blackrock CEO Larry Fink that he no longer wanted to call these so-called sustainable investments ESG— at Aspen Ideas Festival on June 25 Fink said “I’m not going to use the word ESG because it’s been misused by the far left and the far right… we talk a lot about decarbonization, we talk a lot about governance … or social issues, if that’s something we need to address…”—and reported outflows from ESG funds in 2023 have painted a gloomy picture for green and socially conscious investing.

Wall Street Firms That Sold Out to China Are Now Struggling

August 25, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

Major Wall Street firms that decided to expand their asset management operations into China are struggling to capitalize on the market, according to The Wall Street Journal.

BlackRock, a top U.S. investment company, is one of many American firms that are struggling to compete in the Chinese market, ranking only 145th out of almost 200 Chinese mutual funds, with other firms like Fidelity International and Neuberger Berman ranking even lower, according to the WSJ. Factors contributing to the firm’s woes are a lack of willingness from local companies to utilize American investment banks, a struggling Chinese economy and restrictions from both the U.S. and China.

Commentary: BlackRock and Its ESG ‘Voting Choice’ Ruse

August 4, 2023 RealClearWire

Amid growing criticism of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment practices, BlackRock has announced that it will offer retail investors in its largest exchange-traded fund (ETF) the opportunity to participate in its “Voting Choice” program. Open to institutional clients since January 2022, this program allows investors to choose from a limited set of options to guide BlackRock in voting their shares. While perhaps an effective PR tool, Voting Choice is little more than a ruse that neither empowers investors nor diminishes BlackRock’s power to impose its ESG goals on American businesses.

American Financial Titans Are Straying from Green Investment Strategies as GOP Pushback Mounts, Report Finds

August 2, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

Several leading American asset managers have decreased their support for environmental, social and governance (ESG) resolutions since 2021, according to a new report by InfluenceMap, a nonprofit that tracks climate policies in Western corporations.

InfluenceMap’s report assigned BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street and Fidelity environmental stewardship grades of C+ or lower, which indicates that each firm exhibits “a lack of effective climate stewardship processes and use of shareholder authority to engage companies to transition” to a green energy, net-zero carbon emissions future. The report also noted that 2022 saw a “considerable” drop in corporate support for ambitious green shareholder resolutions, a development that coincides with increased Republican scrutiny of corporate ESG policies and mandates.

Commentary: Does Anyone Buy That the Head of BlackRock Is ‘Ashamed’ of ESG?

June 29, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

The big news in energy this week is that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says he is no longer using the term “ESG” in his business communications. Even more, Mr. Fink is now “ashamed” to be a participant in the debate on the issue. At least, that’s what he initially said on Sunday to an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival, where he was a speaker.

“I’m ashamed of being part of this conversation,” Fink said as quoted by Axios. But almost as soon as he made the admission, Fink took it all back when pressed by his session’s moderator. “I never said I was ashamed,” he said, even though he had just actually said that very thing. “I’m not ashamed. I do believe in conscientious capitalism.”

BlackRock Recruiter Says $10k ‘Can Buy a Senator,’ Calls Ukraine War ‘Good for Business’: Video

June 21, 2023 Just the News

A recruiter for BlackRock said that the asset management firm is able to “buy a senator” for $10,000 and that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “good for business,” according to a video recorded by an undercover journalist.

“You could buy your candidates. First, there is the senators. These guys are f***ing cheap. Got 10 grand? You can buy a senator. I’ll give you 500k right now. It doesn’t matter who wins, they’re in my pocket,” BlackRock Recruiter Serge Varlay said in a video published Tuesday by the O’Keefe Media Group, which was founded by guerilla journalist James O’Keefe.

BlackRock’s Board Fends Off Climate Proposals from Left-Wing Shareholders at Annual Meeting

May 25, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

Investing giant BlackRock’s board of directors recommended voting against two climate report proposals at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, and investors followed the firm’s advice.

Each proposal demanded reports from BlackRock; left-wing activist organization CODEPINK requested a report from BlackRock concerning the climate-related risks of its aerospace fund. Paul Rissman, co-founder of Rights CoLab and a fellow for the George Soros-founded Open Society Foundations, requested a report on engineering decarbonization and its impact on pension fund returns; BlackRock’s board of directors recommended voting against both because the firm argued they do not provide the best results for shareholders.

Commentary: The Great Carbon Capture Scam

May 8, 2023 Admin

Carbon capture is like burning witches.

In the 15th to 17th centuries, the elite in Europe and the United States believed that “evil humans were negatively affecting the climate and weather patterns.” The people were demanding something — anything — be done about famine and crop failure. There must be consequences, facts be damned, so inconvenient women on the fringes of society were labeled “witches” and burned at the stake in droves.

Commentary: BlackRock’s Larry Fink and the New Post-ESG Realism

March 30, 2023 RealClearWire

As regular as the turn of the seasons, each January sees Larry Fink, founder and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, publish a lengthy letter on the state of the world and its implications for finance and investors. This year, January turned to February, and still no letter. Instead, February saw Tim Buckley, CEO of Vanguard, global number-two asset manager, give a groundbreaking interview explaining Vanguard’s decision late last year to quit the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative, which had been formed ahead of the 2021 Glasgow climate conference to reallocate capital in line with net zero emissions targets.

BlackRock CEO Scales Back Emphasis on Climate Investing: Not the Environmental Police

March 16, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

CEO Larry Fink of investing titan BlackRock put reduced emphasis on climate and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals in an annual letter to the company’s investors and stakeholders Wednesday, amid Republican criticism of his firm’s investing strategy.

BlackRock has faced significant criticism from Republicans, who allege that the company has focused too much on “woke” investing to the detriment of its clients, and more recently Democrats who argue the company hasn’t gone far enough with its ESG efforts. Fink’s reduced emphasis on his firm’s role in the energy transition stands in stark contrast to his 2020 letter to investors, in which he argued the company had a “significant responsibility … to play a constructive role” in the transition to low-carbon sources of energy, Axios reported.

Commentary: 2022 Is the Year ESG Fell to Earth

December 29, 2022December 28, 2022 RealClearWire

The year 2022 brings an end to an era of illusions: a year that saw the end of the post–Cold War era and the return of geopolitics; the first energy crisis of the enforced energy transition to net zero; and the year that brought environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing down to earth with a thump—for the year to date, BlackRock’s ESG Screened S&P 500 ETF lost 22.2% of its value, and the S&P 500 Energy Sector Index rose 54.0%. The three are linked. By restricting investment in production of oil and gas by Western producers, ESG increases the market power of non-Western producers, thereby enabling Putin’s weaponization of energy supplies. Net zero—the holy grail of ESG—has turned out to be Russia’s most potent ally.

Florida Takes $2 Billion Away from BlackRock Due to Firm’s Activist Investing Standards

December 2, 2022December 1, 2022 Admin

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis announced Thursday that the state will begin pulling over $2 billion in assets from large investment manager BlackRock because of the firm’s environmentally and socially motivated investing standards.

Patronis said that BlackRock is choosing to use its money to pursue its ideology rather than secure profits for its clients, according to a press release. Florida’s State Treasury will begin to remove roughly $1.43 billion worth of long-term securities from BlackRock’s control as well as approximately $600 million worth of short-term investments managed by the firm.

Missouri Withdraws Half a Billion Worth of Pension Funds from BlackRock’s Control

October 19, 2022October 18, 2022 Florida Capital Star Staff

Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announced on Tuesday that the state’s pension fund is selling all of its assets that are managed by BlackRock, a move that will divest up to $500 million from the asset manager.

The Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) is withdrawing its assets from BlackRock’s control because the state believes that the company is using its control of pension funds to push a “left-wing” agenda as opposed to making money for its clients, according to a press release. Missouri joins several other Republican-run states that have also pulled funds from BlackRock for similar reasons.

BlackRock Stock Downgraded over Investments in ESG

October 19, 2022October 18, 2022 Florida Capital Star Staff

The asset management company BlackRock, which has been widely criticized for promoting multiple far-left concepts in the world of business, has seen its stock downgraded due to ongoing backlash.

According to The Daily Wire, UBS analyst Brennan Hawken downgraded the company last week due to its support for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) policies. The target stock price was reduced from $700 to just $585, resulting in a one percent drop in BlackRock shares on Tuesday.

Republican Treasurers Pull $1 Billion from BlackRock over Alleged Anti-Fossil Fuel Policies

October 11, 2022October 10, 2022 Admin

Republican state treasurers are withdrawing $1 billion in assets from BlackRock’s control due to the asset manager’s alleged boycott of the fossil fuel industry, according to the Financial Times.

Republican South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftus is pulling $200 million from BlackRock by the end of 2022, and Louisiana treasurer John Schroder said on Oct. 5 that he is divesting $794 million from the company, according to the FT. Utah treasurer Marlo Oaks said he removed $100 million in funds from BlackRock’s control, and Arkansas treasurer Dennis Milligan pulled $125 million from the company in March.

BlackRock CEO Hails High Energy Prices for ‘Accelerating’ Green Transition

September 25, 2022September 24, 2022 Florida Capital Star Staff

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said during a forum at the Clinton Global Initiative that increased energy prices are “accelerating” the transition to “green” energy.

“Because of the rising energy prices, we are certainly seeing the green premium shrink quite considerably. And so, the amount of investment dollars that are going into new decarbonization technology is accelerating, and accelerating very rapidly,” Fink told former President Bill Clinton.

‘Socialism in Sheep’s Clothing’: Pro-Market Leaders Combat ESG, Liberal Capture of Corporate America

September 6, 2022September 5, 2022 Admin

Pro-market elected officials and thought leaders are fighting back against progressive activists’ creeping capture of corporate America through the Environmental Social and Governance movement..

ESG investment strategies, increasingly prevalent among large asset management firms, seek to leverage passive investors’ assets to steer corporate decision-making to promote progressive social and environmental priorities. ESG has often been compared to the “social credit” system used by China’s ruling communist elite to enforce political conformity on its population.

Texas Bans BlackRock for Anti-Oil Agenda

August 29, 2022August 28, 2022 Admin

The state of Texas announced new restrictions on at least 10 finance firms that have declared an opposition to oil and other fossil fuels, since such a stance could “undermine” the Texas economy that depends heavily on such fuel sources.

The Daily Caller reports that the restrictions, announced by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar, will prevent the companies in question from entering into most contracts with entities at the state or local level. The new policy is the result of a law passed in 2021 that requires the state government to limit its ties with anti-oil companies. As a result, the government requested information from over 100 companies to determine their stances on fossil fuels.

Consumers’ Research Says BlackRock Abdicating Fiduciary Responsibility in Favor of Progressive Politics

August 18, 2022August 17, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

A research group has honed in on investment titan BlackRock, known for purchasing real estate in massive swaths nationwide, saying that those who have invested in the company may be at risk.

Consumer’s Research says:

Commentary: BlackRock’s Stakeholder Capitalism for Thee, Not for Me

June 7, 2022June 6, 2022 Admin

Blackrock has gone from being known as the largest asset manager in the world to being known as the investment company that pushes a social agenda on the companies it invests in. From cajoling corporate America into signing the manifesto of stakeholder capitalism, the Business Roundtable Statement on Corporate Responsibility, to putting anti-oil board members on the board of oil companies, Blackrock has developed a reputation, at least among conservatives, as a company that is imposing CEO Larry Fink’s social agenda on American capitalism.

In fact, the reputational issue is so prevalent that Fink spent much of the recent annual report rebutting it, arguing that what he is practicing is simply capitalism and that the imposition of climate change minimization measures and other ESG issues relevant to stakeholders is simply capitalism. The standard arguments here are that practicing ESG is not politics but rather risk management. Typically ESG proposals talk about reputational risk or the risk that at some point in the future governments will embrace the values expressed in ESG circles and impose them involuntarily on businesses. In such cases, for example, fossil fuel companies will be stuck with “stranded assets”, i.e. oil and gas wells rendered worthless by the coming age of enlightened energy regulation.

States Preemptively Banning ESG Practices Pushed by Big Capital

April 15, 2022April 14, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

States across the country are preemptively banning Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) scoring, which some say would lead to a massive consolidation of wealth among the most powerful investment companies in America.

“In an attempt to secure vast amounts of wealth and influence over society, corporations, bankers, and investors, working closely with key government officials, have launched a unified effort to impose environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards on most of the industrialized global economy. (ESG standards are also referred to as ‘sustainable investment’ or ‘stakeholder capitalism.’),” Justin Haskins at The Heartland Institute said.

Big Capital’s Social Justice ESG Bills Soar Through State Legislatures

April 8, 2022April 7, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

Just months after The Star News Network reported on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) scores taking over corporate America, bills are pouring into state legislatures around the country, some with the intent on implementing the practice and others with the intent of banning the practice.

Justin Haskins at The Heartland Institute, which has closely tracked ESG scores, defines them as the following:

Analyses of CDC Data Show Massive Spike in Excess Mortality in Millennials After Vaccine Mandates

March 16, 2022March 15, 2022 Florida Capital Star Staff

Former BlackRock Portfolio Manager and Investor Edward Dowd is accusing the United States government of democide after an analysis of Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data showed an 84 percent increase in excess mortality in millennials in the fall of 2021.

During a recent appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room Pandemic, Dowd said that an insurance industry expert analyzed the CDC’s aggregate data and broke down the number of mortalities by age and created baselines for each age group. All age groups experienced excess mortality, especially millennials, he said.

Schweizer: The Titans of Wall Street Are Among China’s Closest American Allies

March 11, 2022 Julie Carr

TRANSCRIPT: McCabe: One of the great ironies in investigative journalist Peter Schweizer’s new book Red-Handed is the degree to which the Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated the very heart of American capitalism on Wall Street. Schweizer told The Star News Network that the titans of Wall Street are among China’s…

Commentary: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s Woke Capitalism Crusade Runs into Resistance

February 6, 2022February 5, 2022 RealClearWire

Only a few years after “woke capitalism” was touted as the wave of the future, its supporters are getting a wakeup call of their own.

Just ask BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. The tone of his 2022 letter to CEOs is very different from his previous two, both of which pushed Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment criteria and “stakeholder capitalism” relentlessly. As far as Fink was concerned, ESG, “sustainability,” and the agenda for what we have termed “woke capital” would dominate the markets for years, while he and his $10 trillion asset management behemoth would, in turn, dominate them. Fink was to be king of the stakeholder world.

Schweizer: BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Other Wall Street Leaders Partner with Chinese Coal, Military Enterprises

February 5, 2022February 4, 2022 Neil W. McCabe

The investigative journalist and author of Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win told The Star News Network the titans of capitalism on Wall Street are now the partners of the Chinese Communist Party.

“What China wants from Wall Street is access to Western capital with no questions asked, and unfortunately the biggest fans on Wall Street are prepared to give it to them,” said Peter Schweizer, who is the president and founder of the Government Accountability Institute and the host of The Drill Down podcast.

Commentary: Woke Capital Won’t Save the Planet – but It Will Crash the Economy

January 30, 2022January 29, 2022 RealClearWire

Judged by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s latest letter, January 2022 might turn out to be the highwater mark of woke capitalism. Stakeholder capitalism is not “woke,” Fink says, because capitalism is driven by mutually beneficial relationships between businesses and their stakeholders. He’s right. What Fink describes is capitalism pure and simple, the stakeholder modifier adding nothing to the uniqueness of capitalism in harnessing competition and innovation for the benefit of all.

Fink’s shift is more than rhetorical. Just three years ago, in his 2019 “Profit and Purpose” letter, Fink told CEOs that the $24 trillion of wealth Millennials expect to inherit from their Boomer parents meant that ESG (environment, social, governance) issues “will be increasingly material to corporate valuations.” Now Fink tells them that “long-term profitability” is the measure by which markets will determine their companies’ success, dumping the ESG valuation metrics he’d previously championed.