Institutional Investor (March 10)
“A politicized debate over the use of environmental, social, and governance principles in investing has led more than a dozen states to propose legislation that forces institutional investors to boycott certain companies, or bars the use of ESG factors entirely.” While BlackRock “has drawn the most attention from ESG critics.” Still, the massive asset manager has remained “an outspoken supporter of sustainability” and changed very little in its 2023 investment stewardship plan. BlackRock simply “doesn’t seem fazed, even as legislation and divestments could cause allocators to pull billions of dollars from the firm.”
Tags: 2023, Asset manager, Bars, BlackRock, Boycott, Critics, Debate, Divestments, ESG, Institutional investors, Investing, Investment, Legislation, Outspoken, Politicized, Stewardship, Supporter, Sustainability
Chicago Tribune (August 27)
“The middle of a horrendous recession is an odd time to boast about your stewardship of the economy. But it fits with Trump’s habit of taking credit for anything that goes right while taking no responsibility for any bad news.”
Tags: Boast, Credit, Economy, Horrendous, Recession, Responsibility, Stewardship, Trump
Institutional Investor (January 16)
“BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has written a letter to CEOs detailing his requests for corporate stewardship as the firm moves toward shareholder activism year-round…. The letter is the latest move by an asset manager to focus more on shareholder activism and environmental, social and governance criteria in investments. For instance, BlackRock competitor Vanguard Group said in an August report that it is taking a more active approach to monitoring companies in its portfolio, while a McKinsey & Co. study published in October found that asset managers no longer consider ESG a niche strategy.”
Tags: Asset manager, BlackRock, CEOs, ESG, Fink, McKinsey, Niche strategy, Portfolio, Shareholder activism, Stewardship, Vanguard
Financial Times (April 10)
“Japan’s progress on stewardship and corporate governance reform has looked wobbly of late. The ROE gains made in the first 30 months of Abenomics (up from an average of 5.8 per cent in December 2012 to a mid-2015 peak of 8.8 per cent) have been in steady reversal since then.”
Tags: Abenomics, Corporate governance, Japan, Progress, ROE, Stewardship, Wobbly
Washington Post (May 13)
“Amtrak long ago should have installed automatic safeguards against reckless driving on a route like the Northeast Corridor, which is heavily trafficked and passes through dense urban centers.” The fatal Amtrak derailment provides “lessons about the United States’ negligent stewardship of its roads, rails, bridges and tunnels.”
Tags: Amtrak, Derailment, Infrastructure, Negligent, Reckless, Safeguards, Stewardship, U.S., Urban
Financial Times (May 28)
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has “set a new high watermark for post-crises governance standards.” The largest 350 listed companies in the UK (the FTSE 350) are now asked to hold annual elections for each director. They are also being encouraged to adopt more diverse boards (only 12% of FTSE 100 directors are women) and utilize external reviews of board effectiveness on at least a triennial basis. Lastly, the new code makes clear that boards are responsible for risk management. This summer, the FRC will release a Stewardship code outlining the responsibilities of shareholders.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has “set a new high watermark for post-crises governance standards.” The largest 350 listed companies in the UK (the FTSE 350) are now asked to hold annual elections for each director. They are also being encouraged to adopt more diverse boards (only 12% of FTSE 100 directors are women) and utilize external reviews of board effectiveness on at least a triennial basis. Lastly, the new code makes clear that boards are responsible for risk management. This summer, the FRC will release a Stewardship code outlining the responsibilities of shareholders.
Tags: Boards, FRC, FTSE 350, Governance code, Stewardship
