Money Managers Could Support Shareholder-Led ESG Proposals
Money managers are in a position to push companies to adopt more socially responsible business practices.
For example, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is using its influence to affect policies of companies it invests in, increasing support for shareholder-led environmental, social, and governance proposals, along with issuing a number of criticisms of public companies, the Wall Street Journal reports.
BlackRock votes on behalf of its investors for many of the funds it manages. Among the the 170 ESG shareholder proposals it voted on for the first half of the proxy year, BlackRock has supported 91% of environmental proposals, 23% of social proposals, and 26% of corporate-governance proposals.