BlackRock backs fewer proposals on climate, social issues

investmentnews.com:

BlackRock Inc. backed fewer shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues over the past year as it stressed its commitment to the energy industry and navigated a debate over ESG investing.

The asset manager supported 26 of 399 — or almost 7% — of proposals related to climate change and social issues in the 12 months ended June 30, down from 22% in the same period a year earlier, BlackRock said in a report Wednesday. Many shareholder proposals have become “unduly prescriptive,” seek to “micromanage” executives and fail to acknowledge companies’ responses to climate change, including their disclosure of greenhouse-gas emissions, according to BlackRock.

“Because so many proposals were over-reaching, lacking economic merit or simply redundant, they were unlikely to help promote long-term shareholder value and received less support from shareholders, including BlackRock, than in years past,” Joud Abdel Majeid, global head of investment stewardship, said in the report. 

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is among the top five shareholders in the vast majority of S&P 500 companies.

The firm has faced intense scrutiny from U.S. investors and politicians in recent years because of the influence its senior managers, including Chief Executive Larry Fink, hold over public companies and for backing ESG-related investments. Republican officials have criticized the firm over the past two years for supporting sustainable investing — leading Fink to call the attacks “personal,” “ugly” and full of misconceptions. 

BlackRock has emphasized its role as one of the world’s largest investors in the energy industry, and last month named the CEO of Saudi Aramco to its board of directors.

The asset manager said in the report