By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

(Reuters) – BlackRock (NYSE 🙂 hired Joele Frank, a senior executive at communications and investor relations company Joele Frank, to head its Americas investment stewardship group. This team oversees hundreds of U.S. businesses’ interactions with the asset manager.

According to a memo that was sent Monday to employees and reviewed by Reuters, John Roe will be joining BlackRock Investment Stewardship Americas (BIS), Americas as the managing director.

BlackRock has $9.5 trillion of assets. It is a large shareholder in many companies and one of the strongest voices in governance. The company recently indicated that it was taking a tougher stand on sustainability and climate.

Ray Cameron who was in charge of the Americas’ investment stewardship, will be replaced by Roe. He moved to BlackRock’s institution client business a few weeks ago. Recent turnover in the United States’ investment stewardship department has led to a few people moving on.

Roe was a Joele Frank partner and co-led ESG Group (environmental social governance). He also worked previously at Institutional Shareholder Services, where he headed ISS Analytics. He was previously chief operating officer of an equity investment trust.

John joins us therefore with a mix of governance experience from his time at the buy-side, as a leader at a proxy advisory firm and his most recent position at Joele Frank,” Sandy Boss (BlackRock’s global head for investment stewardship) wrote in the memo.

BlackRock has been a major asset manager in the world for many years and is now able to guide corporate behavior.

BlackRock, Vanguard Group, and other peers each year. State Street (NYSE:) A group vote can be used to decide on who is on a company’s board and on important corporate issues such as lobbying disclosures or a company’s position on climate change.