Investors
have been pressing businesses for action to minimise environmental
damage through through climate-related shareholder resolutions at
corporations annual general meetings. Such moves seldom draw support
from the two top U.S. index fund firms, BlackRock Inc and Vanguard
Group. BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager and its top
rivals, have not put forward any proposals of their own since at
least 2001. Their limited support for other shareholders’
climate-related proposals highlights a broader pattern of deference
to management at the companies in their stock portfolios, according
to a Reuters analysis of their proxy voting records.
“The
investors who should be the leaders have so far been the laggards,”
said Rob Berridge, director of shareholder engagement at Ceres, a
Boston-based research and advocacy group focused on sustainability
issues.
In
2018, BlackRock and Vanguard only backed 10% and 12%, respectively,
of climate-related shareholder resolutions, according to a count by
Ceres. A Reuters review of proxy voting disclosures for the 2019
proxy season ended June 30 found similar rates of support by each
manager for key votes.
Blackrock’s
hesitancy to back climate-related shareholder proposals contrasts
with warnings it has raised about financial impacts on businesses
from climate concerns. Earlier this year,
for example, the BlackRock Investment Institute warned investors in
commercial real estate, municipal bonds and utility companies that
the value of those assets could tumble because of climate-change
impacts.
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