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BlackRock’s Fink defends push for companies to value more than profits -Breaking

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© Reuters. FILEPHOTO: Larry Fink (Chairman Executive Officer, BlackRock) stands during the Bloomberg Global Business forum, New York, U.S.A, September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

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Ross Kerber and Akriti Sharma

(Reuters) – Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:), Monday night defended a shareholder movement which encourages corporations to put society’s interests first and profits last.

Fink reaffirmed the points he made in his previous January mails to CEOs. Fink urged them all to be more purposeful and take into account issues like climate change.

Fink wrote in The Power of Capitalism that stakeholder capitalism was not about politics. It isn’t woke. It’s capitalism.

Fink also defends BlackRock’s approach to engaging with businesses on carbon transition instead of completely divesting, saying that companies can’t be “climate police”, but rather should collaborate with governments

“Divesting from entire sectors – or simply passing carbon-intensive assets from public markets to private markets – will not get the world to net zero,” he said.

Fink is the biggest asset manager worldwide, overseeing the achievement of $10 trillion by Dec. 31.

BlackRock, after years of being criticized by activists on issues related to climate, changed its course and in 2021 cast more critical proxy votes, such as supporting calls for emissions reports and the disclosure of data about workforce diversity.

The same time, the manager of the BlackRock liquidity fund has been challenged by conservative U.S. politicians. Riley Moore, West Virginia’s State Treasurer, announced Monday that his agency will no longer be using a BlackRock liquidity account, which last held $21.8 million in January.

Moore released a statement citing BlackRock’s China dealings and noted that “BlackRock has encouraged companies to adopt ‘net zero” investment strategies that could harm the coal, petroleum, and other industries.”

A BlackRock spokesman declined comment. In December, the company acknowledged that continued investment in fossil fuels will be necessary.

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