BlackRock opens its biggest ETF to proxy voting choice

investmentnews.com:

BlackRock has a Valentine for the 3 million retail shareholders in its $435 billion iShares Core S&P 500 ETF – on Wednesday, it’s giving them a say in how they direct proxy votes.

The company announced that change Tuesday, marking the latest step in its rollout of voting choice programs for fund shareholders. It also represents the first time that BlackRock’s retail customers will have some form of control over how their shares are voted. The program is in a pilot phase that could determine how it will later extend to other funds and retail clients. Last year, the company indicated the program would extend to retail investors for the 2024 proxy season.

So far, institutional clients representing $598 billion have participated in BlackRock’s Voting Choice pilot, according to the company. Those clients are in the minority, as most of the more than $2 trillion in eligible assets have not participated.

With the additional $200 billion in retail client assets now eligible, the amount of investments that can participate in the program totals about $2.6 trillion, representing half of the company’s index equity assets, according to BlackRock.

People who don’t opt for proxy choices will have their shares voted in accordance with BlackRock’s investment stewardship policy. The six choices in proxy voting policies include three from ISS (socially responsible investment, Catholic faith-based, and global board-aligned) and three from Glass Lewis (benchmark, climate, and corporate-governance focused).

“Broadening access to Voting Choice is one way we empower investors by making proxy voting easier and more accessible,” Joud Abdel Majeid, global head of BlackRock Investment Stewardship, said in the company’s announcement. “For clients