Ross Kerber, Simon Jessop

LONDON/BOSTON – A major U.S. environmental group, the Sierra Club, has threatened BlackRock Inc (NYSE 🙂 to pull a $12 million investment. This is after the money manager indicated that it might support fewer climate-focused shareholder resolutions during annual company meetings.

According to the largest global asset manager, it said that such votes are less likely because they can be too restrictive and do not serve clients interests.

According to the Sierra Club Foundation, the asset manager’s stance was inconsistent with its goal of mitigating climate change harms. It stated this in a letter to Larry Fink (BlackRock Chief Executive) and others seen by Reuters on May 24, 2015.

The Foundation has approximately $220,000,000 in assets. Currently, the Foundation invests with BlackRock through Aperio. Aperio is a division that manages managed accounts.

“With this publication, we have come to conclude that BlackRock and Aperio are not acting in Sierra Club Foundation’s long-term financial and mission-related interests,” Dan Chu, executive director at the Foundation, and several colleagues, said in the letter.

BlackRock’s proxy voting system is based on long-term economic goals of its clients, according to a spokesperson. BlackRock gives investors the option to decide how their proxy votes will go, which includes clients of Aperio.

BlackRock tried to be a leader in sustainable investment, but it has been criticized by U.S. clients for its views on issues such as climate change that have become more politicised.

CNBC’s Tuesday news program featured the U.S. On Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, was interviewed by CNBC. He apologized to BlackRock for the “massive, inappropriate ESG pressure” he felt.

Leaders from Sierra Club wrote that part of their mission was to reduce the effects of climate change. BlackRock’s work in this area does not help us with our fiduciary obligations, in fact it runs contrary to them.”